MUMBAI: The assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry has reached Rs 19.96 lakh crore as at the end of July 31, 2017 on the back of strong inflows into both debt and equity market schemes. Going by the current trend, the AUM of the industry is all set to hit a major milestone of Rs 20 lakh crore (trillion) in the current month. As per the latest data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the industry saw net inflows of Rs 63,604 crore in July as compared to a net outflow of Rs 16,592 crore in June. The higher inflows along with appreciation in the net asset value (NAV) of mutual fund units led to a 5.30 per cent or Rs 1 lakh crore jump in the industry’s total AUM from Rs 18.96 lakh crore recorded at the end of June 2017.
Despite equity markets hovering around their historic peaks, the industry is yet to witness any major redemption pressure. According to fund managers, inflows from small investors are continuing at a steady pace amidst buoyancy in the equity market. There are close to 1.5 crore systematic investment Plan (SIP) account with an average monthly inflow of above Rs 4,600 crore.
While income schemes offered by fund houses saw a net inflow of Rs 60,084 crore as against a net outflow of Rs 20,685 crore in the previous month, the equity schemes witnessed a record inflow of Rs 12,037 crore as compared to Rs 7,453 crore in June. “There is no change in momentum and investors are showing tremendous confidence and conviction in the industry as MF products across segments have performed well.
“This is a clear divergence from what we witnessed some 4-5 years back,” said Swarup Mohanty, CEO, Mirae Asset Global Investment. Over the past six months, Mr Mohanty said the flows are little skewed towards balanced funds as these schemes across fund houses have done well. Since the outlook towards the equity markets are quite positive and equity as an asset class is expected to outperform others, he said the net inflows into equity schemes would show a positive trend going forward.
