equity mutual funds: Retail flows into equity mutual funds slow a bit

Mumbai: Retail investors continued to allocate money to equity mutual funds albeit at a slower pace compared to the previous two months.

In April, they bought equity mutual funds worth ₹15,890 crore, much lower than the previous month’s ₹28,463 crore and February’s ₹19,705 crore. Collections through systematic investment plans (SIPs) dipped marginally to ₹11,863 crore compared to ₹12,328 crore in the previous month. Debt funds saw inflows of ₹54,757 crore as corporates brought money back in the first month of the financial year, outflows taking the industry AUM to ₹38.89 lakh crore higher than the previous month’s ₹37.7 lakh crore.

“FII selling on the back of concerns over more aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed going ahead also put pressure on the markets leading to a sharp correction during the month. This provided investors a good entry point into equities,” says Himanshu Srivastava, associate director – manager research, Morningstar India

With the regulator asking the industry to temporarily stop new fund offers (NFOs), April was the first month where there was no fresh launches. The collection of ₹3,240 crore through three schemes in April is from NFOs that spilled over from the previous month. As against this, the industry collected ₹12,000 crore through 23 schemes in March.

“It is encouraging to see a large chunk of equity mutual fund collections coming into existing equity mutual fund schemes. Retail investors are showing maturity in their approach and are opting for long- tenure SIPs,” said Suresh Soni, CEO, Baroda

Mutual Fund.

Sectoral funds saw the highest collection of ₹3,843 crore, primarily due to NFO from

MF. Large & Midcap funds saw inflows of ₹2,050 crore, while flexi cap funds saw collections of ₹1,709 crore. Low-cost passive funds saw inflows of ₹6,062 crore as money went to debt schemes where there is predictability of returns amidst rising interest rates.
Arbitrage funds saw inflows coming back as spreads improved and many HNIs find them more tax efficient than liquid or ultra-short-term funds from a 3-6 month perspective. These funds saw inflows of ₹4,093 crore while dynamic asset allocation funds saw inflows of ₹1,543 crore. Aggressive hybrid funds saw inflows of ₹701 crore.