Even the month of February witnessed the lowest inflow in equity mutual funds in the last 2 years. Only Rs 5,122 crore of fresh inflows took place in equity funds.
As per provisional data, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 565 crore in February.
Meanwhile, mutual fund flow into equities also slipped in comparison to previous months, but managed to remain positive. They net infused Rs 478 crore in equities as investors chose to remain on the sidelines.
"The slowdown in the industry might be attributed to a lot of factors such as the impending general elections and negative returns from a lot of mutual funds in the last year," Narnolia said.
MF industry assets also declined marginally to Rs 23.4 lakh crore in February from Rs 23.4 lakh crore in January on the back of outflows from money market funds.
Stock-specific buying
From the largecap basket, fund mangers bought maximum stake in Godrej Consumer Products, Hero MotoCorp, ACC, Steel Authority of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Lupin, JSW Steel, United Breweries, Axis Bank and Avenue Supermarts, as compiled by ICICI Securities.
Largecaps that saw highest selling by asset management companies were Piramal Enterprises, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Adani Ports, Godrej Industries, Bajaj Holdings, Berger Paints, Bandhan Bank, Bajaj Auto, L&T Finance and UPL.
Table: List of large, mid and smallcap stocks which were top buy/sell by MFs
While domestic flows diminished in February, foreign institutional investors poured money into the equity market.
During February, equity FPI inflows jumped to a 15-month high of Rs 17,220 crore driven by positive views on the Budget and a repo rate cut. Easing geopolitical tensions and hope of stable government also lifted the sentiment.
