Retail investors back equity funds with Rs 8,900 crore in July – Times of India

MUMBAI: A surge in the stock market in July after five consecutive months of volatility saw retail investors put in nearly Rs 8,900 crore net in equity mutual fund schemes last month. July also saw total assets under management (AUM) of the MF industry that came through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route cross the Rs 6-lakh-crore mark for the first time, data released by industry trade body Amfi showed.
According to Amfi chief executive N S Venkatesh, it’s the retail participation that took the SIP AUM to an all-time high mark. That also helped monthly SIP flows remain above the Rs 12,000-crore level. In four of the last five months, gross inflows through the SIP route have remained above the Rs 12,000-crore mark, official data showed.
A release from Amfi also pointed out that July was the 17th consecutive month (since March 2021) that net flows from retail investors were in positive territory. The corresponding figure for the last month was Rs 3,847 crore, it said.
The net flows into equity schemes, however, saw a dip in July on a monthly basis to about Rs 8,900 crore, down from about Rs 15,500 crore in June. But for the strong SIP flows, the monthly numbers would have fallen into the red, said Motilal Oswal AMC chief business officer Akhil Chaturvedi.
Amfi data also pointed out that the number of retail folios at end-July was at an all-time high at about 10.8 crore, up 24% on the year. In the last 12 months, the MF industry has added about 2.1 crore retail folios, it said.
In the debt category, while overnight funds recorded net inflows worth about Rs 19,900 crore, liquid funds had a Rs 7,693-crore net outflow. Overall this category saw a net inflow of Rs 4,930 crore. The total industry AUM at end-July was at Rs 37.75 lakh crore.