Inflows into mutual fund equity schemes were down 19 per cent to ₹24,690 crore last month against ₹30,422 crore logged in September as investors booked profit with revival in markets after remaining lacklustre for long.
Investors continued to bet big on gold and silver ETFs and pumped in ₹7,743 crore (₹8,363 crore) and ₹3,412 crore (₹5,342 crore) last month, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India data released on Tuesday.
Flexi-cap attracted the highest inflow of ₹8,929 crore (₹7,029 crore) followed by mid and small cap funds at ₹3,807 crore (₹5,085 crore) and ₹3,476 crore (₹4,363 crore), respectively.
ELSS and Dividend yield funds registered a net outflow of ₹666 crore (outflow of ₹308 crore) and ₹179 crore (outflow of ₹168 crore).
Venkat Chalasani, CEO, AMFI said the equity markets recovered substantially last month with fresh investment from FPIs and this would have prompted few investors to book profit as the returns have been stable for last few months.
The industry’s AUM reached an all-time high of ₹79.9 lakh crore driven by strong retail participation and record SIP inflows, he said.
Hybrid funds received an inflow of ₹14,156 crore (₹9,397 crore) with arbitrage funds recorded an inflow of ₹6,920 crore (outflow of Rs 988 crore) while it was ₹5,344 crore (₹4,982 crore) in multi-asset allocation funds.
SIP inflows hit another new high at ₹29,529 crore against ₹29,361 crore logged in September. The number of contributing SIP accounts increased to 9.45 crore (9.25 crore).
The industry had opened four Specialised Investment Funds and attracted fresh investment of ₹2,004 crore. The total AUM was ₹2,010 crore.
Narender Singh, Investment Manager, smallcase said equity and hybrid schemes expanded their AUM but at a relatively slower pace, marginally losing share to debt-oriented products.
The pattern of flows suggests a post-festival moderation in sentiment from bullish to a more cautious as investors await clearer confirmation of market momentum before raising equity allocations, he added.
Himanshu Srivastava, Principal Research, Morningstar Investment Research India said it was the third consecutive month of moderation in equity inflows due to profit booking by investors, given the sharp surge in the equity markets along with festive season.
The inflows in thematic funds was largely driven by 4 new fund offerings mobilising about ₹2,489 crore and excluding the NFO inflows the category would have actually seen net outflows, he said.