According to data issued by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) on March 12, the net equity mutual fund inflow for February fell 26% from the previous month to Rs 29,303.34 crore.
Despite a decline, the net inflow into open-ended equities funds was positive for the 48th consecutive month. Due to a slow economy, poor earnings, and global worries, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 5.55 percent in February, and the Nifty 50 fell 5.89 percent. This decline in inflows coincides with a significant market correction.
In addition, as the market selloff grew more severe in February, monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) inflows into mutual funds dropped to a three-month low of Rs 25,999 lakh.
January equity mutual fund inflows were Rs 39,687.78 crore, a slight decrease of 3.6 percent from the previous month. According to data, net investments in small-cap funds dropped 34.9 percent to Rs 3,722.46 crore in February, while inflows into midcap funds plummeted 33.8 percent to Rs 3,406.95 crore.
In contrast, large-cap fund inflows decreased by just 6.4% to Rs 2,866 crore. In focused funds, investments increased by 64.4% to Rs 1,287.72 crore.
A decline in funds taken up by new fund offerings caused net inflows into sectoral/thematic funds to drop even more in February to Rs 5,712 crore. The NFO period saw seven new Sectoral/Thematic Funds generate Rs 2,072 crore last month.
In February, the total assets under management (AUM) of the Indian mutual fund industry dropped 4.04 percent to Rs 64.53 lakh crore from Rs 67.25 lakh crore in January due to mark-to-market losses in the equity category.
Regarding fixed-income investments, there was a net withdrawal of Rs 6,525.56 crore in February compared to a net inflow of Rs 1.28 lakh crore in January.
