Retail investors continued to allocate to their equity mutual fund portfolios using systematic investment plans (SIPs) whose collections touched a new high of ₹17,610 crore, higher by ₹537 crore than the previous month’s ₹17,073 crore. “Investors have bought into the story of faster economic growth and political continuity given the outcome of state elections,” said G Pradeepkumar, CEO of Union Mutual Fund.
Debt funds saw outflows of ₹75,560 crore, as investors withdrew money from liquid funds to meet advance tax obligations. Overall, average AUM rose to ₹50.81 lakh crore up ₹48.75 lakh crore in November 2023.
Within equities, thematic/sectoral funds and small-cap funds saw the highest inflows buoyed by new fund offers of Axis Manufacturing Fund, Kotak Healthcare Fund and Motilal Oswal Small Cap Fund.
Thematic funds saw inflows of ₹6,005 crore, while small-cap funds saw inflows of ₹3,858 crore. The large and midcap category saw an addition of ₹2,339 crore, and mid-cap funds added ₹1,393 crore. Multi-cap schemes that invest in a mix of large-, mid- and small-cap stocks had inflows of ₹1,852 crore, while contra funds saw an addition of ₹1,269 crore.
In the debt space, investors withdrew ₹39,675 crore from liquid funds, ₹6,030 crore from ultra-short-term funds ₹6,171 crore from floater funds and ₹9,432 crore from low-duration funds as liquidity was tight and also for the payment of advance tax.
In the hybrid space, arbitrage funds saw inflows of ₹10,645 crore followed by multi-asset funds with flows of ₹2,420 crore, balanced advantage funds ₹1,369 crore. Equity savings funds that allocate a small component of 10-25% of their portfolios to equity saw inflows of ₹1,080 crore.”Lucrative spreads and better tax efficiency are driving higher flows into arbitrage funds,” said Niranjan Awasthi, head of products at Edelweiss Mutual Fund.
Gold ETFs saw inflows of ₹88 crore on hopes that the US Fed cut rates from April.
