Equity funds add over 18 lakh folios in six months

Despite the volatility in market, investors continued to pour money in equity funds. Thanks to healthy inflows in existing schemes and a flurry of new fund offers, equity mutual funds have added close to 18.5 lakh folios in HFY2015-16, shows the latest SEBI data.

The total folio count of equity funds went up from 3.20 crore in April to 3.38 crore in September even though the Sensex fell 8% during the same period. In fact, it fell by over 1,600 points or 6% on a single day on 24 August, giving investors an opportunity to enter.

The addition in folios was due to healthy inflows in equity funds. AMFI data shows that equity funds have mopped up close to Rs.54,000 crore in HFY2015-16. As a result, the AUM of equity funds crossed Rs. 3.80 lakh crore in September. A good chunk of inflows has come in arbitrage funds, which are categorized as equity funds.

Balanced Funds

Balanced funds added 1.93 lakh folios due to inflows, largely due to inflows in a few select balanced schemes. AMFI data shows that the industry has collected close to Rs.11,600 crore in HFY2015-16. The total folios in balanced funds increased from 20.26 lakh in April to 22.20 lakh in September.

Debt

Debt funds have also seen good traction as the total folio count in this category increased by 3.56 lakh in April-Sept, largely due to addition in income fund folios. The total folio count in debt funds has increased to 75.42 lakh in September from 71.86 lakh in April.

Barring ETFs and fund of funds investing overseas, all other categories recorded a growth in folios. Overseas fund of funds lost 8,700 folios in the last six months. This category is continuously losing folios over the last few months.

Overall, reflecting the positive sentiment among investors, the industry has added close to 24 lakh folios in just six months of the current fiscal. The total folio count across all categories increased to 4.44 crore in September from 4.20 crore in April.

Folio count April-September 2015