The assets under management of the mutual fund industry were down five per cent in December at Rs 22.85 lakh crore against Rs 24.03 lakh crore in November, due largely to redemption in the money market and liquid funds.
The liquid and money market fund saw a net outflow of Rs 1.48 lakh crore against a net inflow of Rs 1.36 lakh crore in November, as corporates and banks redeemed investments to pay advance tax.
The inflow into equity schemes was down 24 per cent at Rs 5,765 crore against Rs 7,579 crore logged in November, while the arbitrage fund saw an outflow of Rs 2,164 crore against an inflow of Rs 2,376 crore. Investment in equity-linked savings schemes was flat at Rs 841 crore (Rs 835 crore), according to data of the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
Retail inflows through equity, arbitrage, balance and ELSS schemes more than halved last month to Rs 4,487 crore, against Rs 11,005 crore recorded in November, due to a huge arbitrage fund redemption.
Retail AUM was up one per cent at Rs 10.23 lakh crore against Rs 10.08 lakh registered in November, despite steady inflows through a systematic investment plan (SIP).
The inflow through SIP was up at Rs 8,022 crore against Rs 7,984 crore registered in November. The SIP asset under management was up at Rs 2.40 lakh crore in December, against Rs 2.31 lakh crore.
The overall folio count has crossed the eight crore-mark for the first time, touching 8,37,561 in December, with SIP folios increasing by over two lakh folios.
The AUM of other exchange-traded funds touched Rs 1.07 lakh crore, with inflows of Rs 17,000 crore from CPSE ETF-3.
N.S. Venkatesh, CEO, AMFI, said the outflow from the liquid scheme was a yearly phenomenon, with Rs 1.38 lakh crore pulled out from these schemes in December 2017.
Overall, he added, the performance of mutual funds has been satisfactory, despite many investors waiting on the sidelines, with General Elections round the corner.
YEARLY TREND TOO DISPPOINTS
In the last one year, the AUM of the industry has gone up by just two per cent or Rs 44,637 crore. The industry AUM was at Rs 22.41 lakh crore in January 2018.
The small growth in AUM was largely driven by a steady SIP inflow, which would have accounted for Rs 84,000 crore, even with an average SIP inflow of about Rs 7,000 crore a month.
The SIP AUM in the last one year was up 16 per cent, while retail AUM increased nine per cent in the same period.