MUMBAI:
Investors in India invested a record Rs 20,371 crore into systematic investment plans (SIPs) during April, marking the first time monthly investments have crossed the Rs 20,000 crore milestone.
The increase in investment amount, revealed by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), shows a huge increase from the previous month’s Rs 19,271 crore.
However, equity mutual funds witnessed a decrease in inflows in April, dropping to Rs 18,917.09 crore from Rs 22,633.15 crore in March, a decline of 16%. This decrease was mainly due to investors reducing their allocations to large-cap stocks.
The mutual fund industry as a whole experienced a notable turnaround in April, with total inflows reaching Rs 2.4 lakh crore after facing an outflow of Rs 1.6 lakh crore in March.
The surge was fuelled by investments of Rs 1.9 lakh crore into debt schemes. Except for equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS), which recorded an outflow of Rs 144 crore, all equity segments saw positive inflows.
Large-cap funds saw a sharp decline in inflows, falling to Rs 357 crore in April compared to Rs 2,128 crore in March.
The industry’s assets under management (AUM) also saw a substantial increase, reaching Rs 57.26 lakh crore by the end of April, up from Rs 53.54 lakh crore in March.
Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research of investment services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said that the increase in investor sentiment was due to successful stress tests conducted by fund houses in March and the generally positive fourth-quarter earnings.
