FP News Service mumbai

Equity mutual funds’ inflow fell 14% to Rs 25,082 crore in March in the midst of high market volatility. Equity mutual funds witnessed inflow of Rs 25,082 crore in March lower than Rs 29,303 crore in February, Rs 39,688 crore in January, and Rs 41,156 crore in December, according to data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Friday.

The inflow has been on the decline for the last three months. Within the equity fund categories, flexi cap funds recorded the highest inflows in March, attracting Rs 5,165 crore. However, sectoral/thematic funds, which saw a robust inflow of Rs 5,711 crore in February, experienced a sharp drop, drawing in just Rs 735 crore in March.

This downtrend indicates a shift in investor sentiment, with interest moving away from sectoral bets towards more diversified and flexible investment strategies. Mid-cap and small-cap mutual funds continued to attract significant investor interest, with inflows of Rs 3,439 crore and Rs 4,092 crore, respectively in March.Statistics show a slight increase from February's inflows of Rs 3,406 crore for mid-caps and Rs 3,722 crore for small-caps.

However, large-cap funds witnessed a decline in inflows, receiving Rs 2,479 crore in March compared to Rs 2,866 crore in February. Despite the outflow, assets under management increased to Rs 65.7 lakh crore in March-end from Rs 64.53 lakh crore in the preceding month. In general, mutual funds experienced an outflow of Rs 1.64 lakh crore during the month under review as compared to an inflow of Rs 40,000 crore in February.

Gold ETFs see investors withdrawing money in Mar At a time when gold prices are zooming and reaching newer highs every other day, gold exchange traded funds saw investors withdrawing more money from such funds in March than putting new money. As a result, for the first time in 11 months, gold ETFs reported net outflows in the month, according to AMFI data released Friday.  

The 20 gold ETFs saw a gross inflow of INR 9.78 billion in March and redemption of INR 10.56 billion, resulting in net outflows of INR 772.1 million. The gross inflows in March were much lower than INR 27.60 billion in February. In March 2024, the net inflows were at INR 3.73 billion. 

"Earlier we used to consume gold but from the time (gold) ETFs were launched, people also see gold with an investment point of view. So (in March) investors booked profits to cover losses made in equities by selling gold," Ajay Kedia, director of Kedia Advisory, said.