AMFI Data: Equity Mutual Funds See Inflows More Than Double In December

Inflows into equity mutual funds jumped to the highest since at least April 2018 even as risks from the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant put investors on the edge.

Net inflows into equity and equity-linked schemes more than doubled over the preceding month to Rs 25,076.7 crore in December, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India. That’s the tenth straight month of investments into such stock plans.

Indian stock markets swung in December as concerns that a return of stricter curbs to control the spread of the new Covid-19 variant may hurt nascent economic recovery. The Sensex and the Nifty 50, however, ended the month with 1% gains.

Category-Wise Trends

All segments witnessed inflows in December.

Multi-cap funds witnessed the most investments among other categories. Investors continued to pump into mid caps, while large caps funds witnessed inflows for the fourth consecutive month. Small caps witnessed least inflows in December among other categories.

AMFI started reporting granular data since April 2019.

SIP Inflows

Monthly contributions into systematic investment plans rose for the eight straight month

According to the mutual fund lobby, monthly SIP contributions hit a fresh high of Rs 11,305.34 crore. Around 12.54 lakh SIP accounts opened during the reported month, AMFI said in a media statement.

The number of mutual fund SIP accounts stood at 4.90 crore as on Dec. 31 compared with 4.78 crore in November.

"Year 2021 has been a momentous year, with Mutual Funds emerging as the preferred investment destination with continued record equity flows through NFOs and ongoing investment into existing schemes. The year has seen remarkable growth in mutual funds with hike in inflows across all categories of funds," said NS Venkatesh, chief executive officer at AMFI, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Net Flows

All mutual fund schemes, debt and equity, saw a net outflow in the last month of 2021.

Average and net assets under management for December rose to Rs 37.91 lakh crore and Rs 37.72 lakh crore, respectively.

Liquid funds witnessed outflows after inflows in November, while overnight funds attracted investments.

Credit risk funds witnessed outflows for the first time in eight months.