Waning interest in equity funds can be seen in the other equity-oriented category in the industry-balanced funds.
The assets under management (AUMs) of the mutual fund industry has declined by a marginal 0.89 percent to Rs 23.16 lakh crore in February due to outflows from income and liquid funds.
Waning interest in equity funds can be seen in the other equity-oriented category in the industry-balanced funds.
The category witnessed outflows for the second straight month, to the tune of Rs 1,077 crore in February against an outflow of Rs 952 crore in January, according to the data collated by Crisil.
Net outflows and MTM (mark-to-market) losses led to the erosion in asset base worth Rs 2,825 crore, or 1.61 percent to Rs 1.73 lakh crore.
In the reporting month, equity funds witnessed inflows of Rs 4,640 crore.
The inflows in equity funds have been sporadic in recent months due to volatility in the underlying market.
In the previous two months, inflows into equity funds stood at Rs 5,082 crore and Rs 4,442 crore, respectively, much lower than Rs 10,000 crore average monthly inflows in the previous 32 months.
Investors in debt funds seem to be unnerved by the debt downgrade and credit liquidity crisis that ailed the mutual fund industry in the latter half of 2018, as seen by outflows in February, the agency said.
Debt funds (excluding liquid and gilt funds) witnessed outflows worth Rs 4,214 crore, the sharpest monthly outflows seen since November 2018 which had recorded outflows amounting to Rs 6,518 crore.
Despite the heavy outflows, debt funds saw marginal AUM decline to the tune of Rs 1,714 crore, or 0.25 percent, to Rs 6.96 lakh crore, helped by mark-to-market gains, it said.
Gilt funds witnessed outflows of Rs 149 crore in February, higher than Rs 89 crore in January, marking the sharpest outflows recorded since October 2018 when it was Rs 291 crore.Not sure which mutual funds to buy? Download moneycontrol transact app to get personalised investment recommendations.
