SIP contributions touched a new high reaching Rs 14,276 crore in March. The SIP AUM stood at Rs 6.83 trillion in March, compared to Rs 6.74 trillion in February.
Mutual funds inflow for the recently ended financial year 2022-23 jumped 7 per cent to reach Rs 40.05 lakh crore as against Rs 37.70 lakh crore in the previous fiscal. “This figure is testimony to the growing investing resilience of retail investors despite volatile markets,” said Aniruddha Bose, Chief Business Officer, FinEdge. Further, the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed net inflows for March stood at Rs 20,534 crore, compared to Rs 15,686 crore in February. Also, the highest inflows were recorded by sectoral/ thematic schemes at Rs 3,929 crore. “March month always plays out as the best month of the year for equity inflows and witnesses higher outflows for debt funds as was seen in March ‘22. On similar lines, March ‘23 too was the best month for the amount garnered compared to all other months of the year. However, it was still 28 per cent down on- year basis,” said Viraj Gandhi, CEO, SAMCO MF.
“The continued growth in SIP numbers have been a major contributor to the fact that equity inflows have now remained positive for 25 months at a stretch, despite all the ups and downs,” Aniruddha Bose said. SIP contributions touched a new high reaching Rs 14,276 crore in March. The SIP AUM stood at Rs 6.83 trillion in March, compared to Rs 6.74 trillion in February.
“Increasing inflows since the beginning of the year with this month being the highest contribution in the past ten months reflects investors’ confidence in the growth of the Indian economy,” said Jean Christophe, Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas. He further added that the maximum inflows witnessed in the ELSS category which can be attributed to the tax planning of investors, is one of the major contributors to the positive inflows. “The uncertain macro environment, higher commodity prices, muted returns, rising bond yields, the slowdown in growth and rising inflation have likely led the investors to choose to redeem their investments in debt funds in favour of other investment avenues,” Jean Christophe said.
Besides, debt schemes registered outflows at Rs 56,884 crore compared to Rs 13,815 crore in February and this was despite an inflow of Rs 31,179 crore into the debt MF universe in the final week of March. “Clearly lack of direction in markets, coupled with policy changes for debt mutual funds led to subdued performance this month. We expect debt funds to feel pressure and equity-based funds will be able to attract higher flows in the coming quarter,” said Viraj Gandhi.
After equity mutual funds, Jean Christophe said, the second best performer would be other schemes which include index funds, Gold ETFs, other ETFs, and funds of funds investing overseas that have witnessed exponential growth since the beginning of the year. “Index funds were the maximum contributors in this category with inflows of nearly Rs 27, 228 crore which can be attributed to them being low-cost,” he added.
The index funds witnessing the net inflow of Rs 27, 228 crore is more than 4x of the net inflow figure for February. “Index Funds received net inflows of Rs 95,670 Crores in the previous financial year, signaling a shifting preference to passives when it comes to large caps,” added Aniruddha Bose.
Meanwhile, arbitrage funds emerged as the biggest loser during the reshuffling, with a net outflow of Rs 12,157 crore last month. “Presumably, with the current interest rate cycle peaking and inflation coming under check, fixed income investors are adding duration to their portfolios as the probability of capital gains has gone up,” said Aniruddha Bose.
Source:financialexpress.com