Inflows into equity mutual funds declined by around 22 per cent to Rs 33,403.37 crore in August, compared to Rs 42,702.35 crore in July, as investors turned cautious amid tariff-related uncertainties, the latest data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.
On August 27, US President Donald Trump slapped a 50 per cent tariff — split evenly between general and additional duties — on Indian exports, which dampened investor sentiment. Domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty, fell 1.69 per cent and 1.38 per cent, respectively in August.
Total assets under management of the mutual fund industry dipped to 0.22 per cent to Rs 75.19 lakh crore in the reporting month, compared to Rs 75.36 lakh crore.
Inflows through systematic investment plan (SIP) marginally declined to Rs 28,265 crore in August, compared to a record high inflows of Rs 28,464.03 crore in July.
“Although positive equity flows continued for 54th straight month, month on month there was a dip of 22 per cent. This is more of a reflection of global macros than domestic factors, tariff news heightened volatility in the markets leading to cautious approach by investors,” said Ankur Punj MD and business head, Equirus Wealth.
Among equity mutual fund schemes, small cap funds witnessed a month-on-month fall of 23 per cent in net inflows at Rs 4,992.91 crore, compared to Rs 6,484.43 crore. Mid-cap funds saw a 3 per cent rise in inflows at Rs 5,330.62 crore in August, compared to Rs 5,182.49 crore in the previous month. Inflows into large cap funds rose 33 per cent to Rs 2,834.88 crore, from Rs 2,125.09 crore.
Net inflows into sectoral/thematic funds declined 59 per cent to Rs 3,893.16 crore from Rs 9,426.03 crore.
During the reporting month, debt mutual fund schemes witnessed net outflows of Rs 7,979.84 crore, as against inflows of Rs 1,06,801.23 crore. Liquid funds saw the highest amount of outflows at Rs 13,350.06 crore. Inflows into the overnight fund stood at Rs 4,950.84 crore.
Inflows into hybrid mutual fund schemes slowed to Rs 15,293.7 crore compared to Rs 20,879.47 crore in July. During the reporting month, gold exchange traded funds (ETF) garnered Rs 2,189.51 crore of inflows, compared to Rs 1,256.09 crore in July.
The systematic investment plan (SIP) asset under management (AUM) stood at Rs 15.18 lakh crore. The number of contributing SIP accounts declined to 8.99 crore from 9.11 crore a month ago.