Inflow in equity mutual funds dropped by 22 per cent to Rs 33,430 crore in August primarily due to a sharp fall in new fund offers (NFOs), data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed on Wednesday.
Also, the latest fund infusion by investors marks the 54th consecutive month of net inflows into the segment.
According to the data, equity-oriented mutual funds witnessed an inflow of Rs 33,430 crore in August, a sharp decline from Rs 42,702 crore in the preceding month.
Experts attributed the drop in inflows to lower new fund offers (NFOs).
"The lower impact of new flow viz previous month roughly Rs 9,000 crore is to the extent of NFO's which were higher in July than August. Rest the flow momentum is steady and healthy," Akhil Chaturvedi, Executive Director and Chief Business Officer at Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, said.
"Given past trends, I was hoping for a higher SIP number which is now flat around Rs 27,000 crore. Broadly, Indian investors continue to add equities to their allocation despite global headwinds and FPIs selling, and this is very positive for the markets," he added.
Within equity fund categories, the highest contribution came from Flexi Cap Funds at Rs 7,679 crore, followed by Mid Cap Funds with Rs 5,330 crore.
Small Cap Funds attracted Rs 4,993 crore, Sectoral/Thematic Funds added Rs 3,893 crore and Large Cap Funds saw an inflow of Rs 2,835 crore.
On the other hand, debt category witnessed a withdrawal of Rs 7,980 crore during the month under review.
Overall, the mutual fund industry experienced an infusion of Rs 52,443 crore in August, lower than Rs 1.8 lakh crore in July.
The industry assets under management was at Rs 75.2 lakh crore at the end of August compared to Rs 75.36 lakh crore in July-end.
