Equity MF inflow rises 14.5% to Rs 41K cr in December

Despite muted equity market performance in December, inflow in equity mutual funds stayed in the positive zone for the 46th month in a row.

Investors contributed Rs 41,156 crore last month to equity mutual funds compared to Rs 35,943 crore in November, an increase of over 14.5 per cent (month on month basis), according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). The gross inflow into active equity schemes was up 17 per cent in December crossing Rs 72,000 crores. — TNS “This increase can be attributed to the 70% absolute growth in gross inflows into sectoral and thematic equity schemes (Rs. 22,128 crores in Dec 2024 vs Rs. 13,133 crores in Nov 2024), most of which can be attributed to NFOs (New Fund Offer). Inflows in the large cap category were down by 8 per cent month on month while net flows were down 21 per cent compared to Nov 2024,” said Jatinder Pal Singh, CEO, ITI Mutual Fund.

Meanwhile, debt mutual funds saw net outflows of Rs 1,27,153 crores during the month with Liquid, money market and overnight categories witnessing major outflows, mostly due to the quarter end phenomena.

According to Deepak Ramaraju, Senior Fund Manager, Shriram AMC, “ If we look at the individual fund categories, mid and small cap funds recorded MoM growth in net inflows by 4.3% to Rs 5,093 crores and 13.52% to Rs 4,667 crores, respectively. This shows that despite higher valuation of mid and small cap stocks, investor’s preference towards these categories remains unabated due to the high growth expectation. Large cap funds, despite being better placed in valuation, de grew by 21% to Rs 2,010 crores.”

The total AUM(Asset Under Management) of the mutual fund industry came in at Rs 66.93 lakh crore in December, down 1.7 per cent from Rs 68.08 lakh crores in November primarily due to the outflows from the debt category.

Also, contributions to systematic investment plans(SIP), where investors make regular payments into mutual funds, rose Nearly 50% YoY to Rs 26,459 crore, hitting a record high for the 17th time in 18 months.