Sluggish returns, volatile equity markets and India's complex political situation are having a bearing on investment flow into domestic equity funds. Inflows into domestic equity
mutual funds declined for the third straight month to Rs 6,158 crore in January compared with Rs 6,606 crore in December and Rs 8,414 crore in November.
However, the mutual fund industry as a whole witnessed a net inflow of Rs 65,439 crore in January compared with an outflow of Rs 1.36 lakh crore in December.
Inflows through SIP or systematic investment plans remained stagnant at Rs 8,063 crore in January against Rs 8,022 crore in December. The benchmark Sensex inched higher by 0.50 per cent last month, whereas the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices tanked 5 per cent each .
Liquid funds witnessed an inflow of Rs 58,637 crore against an outflow of Rs 1.48 lakh crore in December. Balance Funds witnessed a net outflow of Rs 952 crore in January for the first time since May 2014, but that was down 112 per cent on a year on year basis.
The asset under management (AUM) of the industry increased 2.63 per cent month-on-month to Rs 23.40 lakh crore at the end of January 2019 from Rs 22.85 lakh crore at the end of December 2018, latest data available with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (
Amfi) showed.