Equity Mutual Fund Inflows Rise Over Threefold In December: AMFI Data

Inflows into equity mutual funds rose in December, helped by investments in mid- and small-cap funds.

Net investment into equity and equity-linked schemes rose about three times over the previous month to Rs 7,303.4 crore, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India. This is the 22nd straight month of inflows into such funds.

During the month, India's stock benchmarks S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 fell 3.86% and 3.76%, respectively.

Multi-, mid-, and small-cap funds recorded inflows in December.

Large-cap funds continued to see an outflow of Rs 26.2 crore in December, compared to an outflow of Rs 1,038.8 crore in November.

AMFI started releasing granular data in April 2019.

The number of SIP accounts reached 6.12 crore, compared with 6.04 crore in November. SIP contribution grew to Rs 13,573.08 crore in December, compared with Rs 13,306.5 crore in November.

"Overall, it’s a mixed bag.," said NS Venkatesh, chief executive officer at AMFI. "Negative in certain funds is understandable because December was the quarter-end month. Corporates take money out to pay advanced tax, and banks take money out to maintain capital adequacy," he said.

Liquid funds, used by companies to park short-term cash, witnessed outflows after two straight months of inflows.

Credit-risk funds have now seen outflows for 13 straight months, including December.

The mutual fund industry, including debt and equity, recorded a total net inflow of Rs 4,491.47 crore in December versus an inflow of Rs 13,263.6 crore in November.

Floater funds saw outflows of Rs 2,239.8 crore in December, compared with outflows of Rs 320.5 crore in November.

The average assets under management stood at Rs 40.76 lakh crore compared to Rs 40.49 lakh crore in November. Net AUM fell to Rs 39.88 lakh crore versus Rs 40.37 lakh crore in November.