Equity schemes garnered ₹29,303 crore in February compared with January’s ₹39,688 crore. Investments through monthly systematic investment plan (SIPs) fell marginally to ₹25,999 crore from the previous month’s ₹26,400 crore.
The mutual fund industry’s total assets under management (AUM) fell to ₹64.53 lakh crore in February from ₹66.98 lakh crore in January with short-term debt schemes too witnessing outflows during the month. “Mutual fund flows during February highlight a strategic shift in investor behaviour, balancing growth opportunities with risk mitigation amid global uncertainty,” says Akshat Garg, AVP, Choice Wealth.
Small-cap, Mid-cap flows dip
Mid and small-cap funds saw a sharp dip in flows compared with the previous month. Midcaps schemes received ₹3,409 crore in February against ₹5,148 crore in the previous month, while small caps garnered ₹3,722 crore compared with ₹5,721 crore. Flows into sector and thematic funds dropped to ₹5,711 crore from ₹9,017 crore in January. Most of the flows into these schemes were driven by the launch of seven New Fund Offers (NFOs), which garnered roughly ₹2,000 crore.
Flexicap funds were among the most popular scheme categories, attracting ₹5,104 crore in January against ₹5,698 crore with investors preferring to bet on products with predominant exposure to large-cap stocks.
Large caps garnered ₹2,866 crore compared with ₹3,063 crore in the previous month, multi-cap funds received ₹2,518 crore against ₹3,567 crore.
“There is a shift in allocation towards large cap and flexicap categories where valuations are reasonable,” says Anand Vardarajan, Chief Business Officer, Tata Asset Management.
Fears of escalation in tariff wars and worries about rupee depreciation resulted in continued flows into gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) worth ₹1,980 crore. “Rising inflows into gold ETFs indicate a shift toward safer assets during uncertain times,” says Suranjana Borthakur, Head -Distribution , Mirae Asset Mutual Fund.
Hybrid MFs gain
Amongst hybrid funds, multi asset allocation funds that invest in a mix of equity, debt and gold received inflows of ₹2,228 crore higher than ₹2,123 crore in the previous month, as many first-time investors chose this category over plain vanilla equity schemes.
