Equity mutual funds registered a high inflow of Rs 41,887 crore in October. This is their highest-ever month-to-month net inflow increase, at over 21%. The performance has been a direct reflection of high investments in thematic funds and speaks to the fact that retail investors still choose to entrust their funds to fund houses despite tough market conditions.
It marked 44 successive months of net positives, in which it was a positive inflow into the equity-oriented mutual funds. Data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed these figures on Monday, once again marking how resilient mutual fund markets have proved to be in this phase of economic fluctuation.
Santosh Joseph, co-founder and chief executive at Germinate Investor Services said, “October’s figures are remarkable, especially given that this was one of the significant market corrections. Through most of the year, equity inflows were largely driven by strong market gains. But October was such a sharp shift. The 5-6% declines in both Sensex and Nifty were some of the sharpest since March 2020. Yet retail investors remained buoyant and pushed inflows to over Rs 40,000 crore.
The broader mutual fund industry also reported a decent performance, with total inflows coming in at Rs 2.4 trillion in October, which is quite a recovery from September’s outflow of Rs 71,114 crore. The rise was strongly accentuated by Rs 1.57 trillion invested into debt schemes, which are holistic in nature.
Net AUM increased to Rs 67.25 trillion in October from Rs 67.25 trillion in the previous month. Equity-oriented schemes received net inflows of Rs 41,887 crore, up from Rs 34,419 crore in September. Sectoral thematic funds accounted for the highest net inflows within equity schemes, with Rs 12,279 crore, though this was somewhat lower than the level seen in September, at Rs 13,255 crore.
But October’s statistics reflect just how confident and strong Indian investors remain in the equity market, even when indices are in flux.
