Despite 16% decline in the gross SIP inflows from the record numbers in March, new SIP registrations remained high in April. At 14 lakh, the number was higher than those seen in the pre-pandemic period.
In fact, the SIP registration numbers have remained above 14 lakh since December 2020, when the figure had zoomed 34% to touch 14.2 lakh. The registration figures used to be around 9-12 lakh before covid-19 arrived in March.
The April figure looks more impressive if you take the pandemic situation into account. April was when the country faced the full-blown impact of the second wave of covid-19.
*Figures are in lakh
So, does this imply that covid 2.0 had no impact on investor sentiments?
The numbers do point towards that. But according to industry insiders, there are several factors that are working in tandem to lift the SIP registrations.
Swarup Mohanty, CEO of Mirae Assets MF said that investors are now realising the importance of investing in a staggered and disciplined manner to tide over volatility. In addition, many distributors and online players have made the process of starting SIPs in mutual funds very easy, he said.
Jalgaon MFD Hitesh Kakkad was of the similar view. "People are becoming aware and new money is flowing in. The second wave of covid-19 has not deterred retail investors," he said.
Fall in SIP stoppage ratio
The sharp surge in new SIP account opening has brought down the SIP stoppage ratio.
Data from AMFI shows that the ratio of the number of closed or paused SIP accounts and the new registrations has been declining continuously. After touching the high of 0.81 in May 2020, the ratio came down to 0.42 in March 2021. However, the figure increased a bit in April.
