Equity Mutual Fund Inflow In January Hits Record 2-Year High Of Rs 21,780 Crore

In January, the inflow was the highest since March 2022, when equity-oriented mutual funds saw an inflow of Rs 28,463 crore

Besides equities, debt-oriented schemes experienced a net inflow of Rs 76,469 crore in January post withdrawing funds in the preceding two months

Source : Getty

Equity mutual funds witnessed a net inflow of Rs 21,780 crore in January, marking the highest monthly influx in almost two years. This surge was driven by investors' ongoing preference for small-cap funds. Comparatively, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Thursday revealed an inflow of approximately Rs 17,000 crore in the category in December.

In January, the inflow was the highest since March 2022, when equity-oriented mutual funds saw an inflow of Rs 28,463 crore. Additionally, this latest inflow marks the 35th consecutive month of net inflows in equity funds.

Except for value funds, all categories in the equity segment experienced inflows. Thematic funds led the category with a fund collection of Rs 4,805 crore, followed by small-cap funds with Rs 3,257 crore and multi-cap funds with Rs 3,039 crore.

This month's noteworthy aspect was the fund flows into the large-cap category, totalling Rs 1,287 crore, marking the highest level in over 13 months.

"With midcaps at 15 per cent and small caps at 20 per cent premiums, investors are realising the considerable valuation gap with the large-cap segment, and accordingly making adjustments to their investments. Though small-cap funds garnered greater than Rs 3,000 crore of net flows for the fourth consecutive month, the quantum was lower by Rs 600 crore on a month-on-month basis," Gopal Kavalireddi, Vice President of Research at FYERS, said.

Besides equities, debt-oriented schemes experienced a net inflow of Rs 76,469 crore in January post withdrawing funds in the preceding two months. The segment recorded a net outflow of Rs 75,560 crore in December and Rs 4,707 crore in November. Furthermore, hybrid schemes attracted an inflow of Rs 20,637 crore.

In total, the mutual fund industry saw an inflow of Rs 1.23 lakh crore in the month, a significant turnaround from the outflow of Rs 40,685 crore in December. The robust inflow boosted the assets under management of the mutual fund industry to Rs 52.74 lakh crore by the end of January, up from Rs 50.78 lakh crore at the end of December.