Equity MF investments at 2-yr high

New Delhi: Equity mutual funds (MFs) continued their positive momentum with inflow of Rs26,866 crore in February, making it the highest monthly infusion in 23 months, driven by massive interest for thematic funds and launch of new fund offerings (NFOs).

Also, the latest flow was about 23 per cent higher than inflows of Rs 21,780 crore in January. Moreover, monthly Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) contributions reached a fresh high of Rs 19,186 crore, surpassing January's Rs 18,838 crore, according to the data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Friday.

“As we delve into the Feb 2024 data, we observe that there is a surge in SIP accounts, totalling 8.20 crore with 49.79 lakh new SIP registrations. This underscores investors’ unwavering commitment to disciplined wealth accumulation,” said Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive, AMFI.

Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed an inflow of Rs1.2 lakh crore in February, almost similar to the one seen in the preceding month. The huge inflow was driven by contributions from debt-oriented schemes at Rs63,809 crore, equity schemes at Rs26,866 crore and hybrid schemes at Rs18,105 crore. The strong inflow has pushed the net assets under management to Rs54.54 lakh crore at February-end from Rs52.74 lakh crore in the preceding month.

“The flow in February this year was the highest since March 2022, when equity-oriented mutual funds witnessed an inflow of Rs28,463 crore. Also, the latest flow marks the 36th consecutive month of net inflows in equity funds. The equity segment was also aided by eight new fund launches during the month which cumulatively garnered Rs8,692 crore,” said Melvyn Santarita, Analyst, Morningstar Investment Research India.

Anand Vardarajan, business head (banking, institutional clients, alternate products and poduct strategy), Tata Asset Management, said that “equity inflows continue to soar largely led by some NFOs. Notably thematic/sectoral have seen massive interest. Barring focused funds, which saw an outflow of Rs533 crore, all categories experienced inflow in equity segments.”

The sectoral or thematic funds category saw the highest inflows to the tune of Rs11,263 crore. This was followed by large & midcap category with a net attraction of Rs3,157 crore, small-cap (Rs2,922 crore) and mid-cap (Rs1,808 crore).

However, inflows in small-cap and mid-cap dropped by 10 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively in the preceding month possibly due to investors opting to book profits on the back of a sharp uptick in the performance of these categories. Interestingly, the large cap category saw its third highest flows in 20 months to Rs 921 crore in February.