The moderation in March follows a sharp 26 per cent sequential decline in February, the steepest monthly drop since April 2023, as heightened volatility dampened sentiment
The inflows into equity mutual fund schemes dipped 14 per cent to ₹25,082 crore against ₹29,303 crore logged in February as volatility in the market scared away retail investors and lower contribution through Systematic Investment Plan.
The number of contributing SIP accounts fell by 15 lakh last month to 8.11 crore against 8.26 crore logged in February due to reconciliation of accounts as per SEBI direction.
SIP inflows were flat at ₹25,926 crore against ₹25,999 crore in February while the number of SIP accounts closed were higher at 51 lakh against 40 lakh new accounts opened, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India data released on Friday.
N Venkat Chalasani, CEO, AMFI said SEBI has directed MFs to consider SIPs that have not contributed three months in a row as closed account.
By highlighting the contributing SIP accounts, he said the industry wants to reveal details on accounts where the contribution has been paused even for one month.
Asked whether the fall in contributing SIP account point to mis-selling particularly SEBI lowering minimum SIP contribution to ₹250 a month, Chalasani said Chota SIP is a work in progress and it has nothing to do with increase in stoppage of SIP. A clear trend may emerge once the reconciliation of accounts is completed in two months, he added.
Inflows into small- and mid-cap schemes jumped sharply to ₹4,092 crore (₹3,722 crore) and ₹3,439 crore ( ₹3,407 crore) as the valuation of these stocks were beaten down. However, felxi-cap attracted the highest inflow of ₹5,615 crore (₹5,104 crore) last month. Inflows into thematic was the lowest at ₹172 crore ( ₹5,712 crore) as investors booked profit amid growing uncertainty.
Hybrid funds registered a net outflow of ₹946 crore (inflow of ₹6,804 crore) as arbitrage funds logged net outflow of ₹2,855 crore (inflow of ₹6,804 crore) and ₹271 crore (outflow of ₹81 crore) from conservative hybrids.
Debt funds logged an outflow of ₹2.03 lakh crore last month against outflow of ₹6,526 crore in February due to financial year-end phenomenon.
Overall the industry registered a net outflow of ₹1.64 lakh crore (inflow of ₹40,063 crore) even as the AUM increased to ₹65.74 lakh crore (₹64.53 lakh crore) largely due to mark-to-market gain.
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Published on April 11, 2025