Equity mutual fund inflow drops 26% to Rs 29,303 crore in February

New Delhi: Inflow in equity mutual funds dropped 26 per cent to Rs 29,303 crore in February, primarily due to a significant decline in investments in small and midcap schemes, amid continued market volatility.

This was the second consecutive month of decline in inflow in equity funds. The latest fund infusion by investors also marks the 47th consecutive month of net inflows into the segment.

According to data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Wednesday, equity-oriented mutual funds saw an inflow of Rs 29,303 crore in February, way lower than Rs 39,688 crore registered in January and Rs 41,156 crore in December.

The sharp decline was largely attributed to reduced inflows in mid and small-cap funds, which saw a drop to Rs 3,406 crore and Rs 3,722 crore in February, compared to Rs 5,147 crore and Rs 5,720 crore in January, respectively. In large-cap funds, inflows totalled Rs 2,866 crore, down from Rs 3,063 crore in January.

Within the equity categories, sectoral/thematic funds witnessed highest net inflow of Rs 5,711 crore, followed by Flexi Cap Funds with Rs 5,104 crore.

Apart from equities, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) saw an inflow of Rs 1,980 crore as against Rs 3,751 crore in January.

However, debt funds registered an outflow of Rs 6,525 crore last month after experiencing an inflow of Rs 1.28 lakh crore in January.

Overall, mutual funds attracted over Rs 40,000 crore in the month under review as compared to a staggering inflow of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in January.

This has dragged the overall assets under management of mutual funds to Rs 64.53 lakh crore in February-end as compared to Rs 67.25 lakh crore in the preceding month.