The Mutual Fund Show: Retail Investors Have Helped Keep Market Stable And Calm, Experts Say

The Indian mutual fund industry has achieved new records in 2023, as both equity assets and systematic investment plan book size has reached new highs, according to A Balasubramanian, managing director and chief executive officer of Aditya Birla Sun Mutual Fund.

“The participation of Indian investors in the equity markets picked up immediately post-Covid. The contribution of domestic investors in the equity markets has been significant. Their contribution has helped markets to be stable and calm,” he told NDTV Profit.

There has been a surge in retail participation in the market, which is reflected in the mutual fund portfolios and people trading online, said Mahesh Patil, chief investing officer of Aditya Birla Sun Life.

“We can see a lot of vibrancy in the Indian markets, contrary to what is seen in the global markets. Currently, the U.S. markets are driven by few technological stocks, but in India the breadth of the stocks are quite large," he said.

Indian policymakers have been responsive and aware about what is happening globally as well as domestically. And the decisions taken by them have been very measured, he said. Macroeconomic stability and retail participation have also been positive, according to Patil.

Though the overall economy is growing, the private sector capital expenditure and investment cycles are yet to pick up, the CIO said. The ingredients are in place, but a bit of confidence is required, which will eventually come after the elections. This could be a new leg of growth for the economy, he said.

The initial pickup in spending was coming from public sector capex, according to Balasubramanian. But the last one year has seen a rise in the private sector capex. With the ‘Make in India’ scheme, India has seen a drop in imports, since it's being substituted with domestic manufacturing, he said.