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The MF industry is close to crossing the Rs. 45 lakh crore mark, shows latest AMFI data. The average AUM grew by 21% from Rs 36.98 lakh crore as on June 2022 to Rs 44.82 lakh crore as on June 2023. Of this, retail average AUM (equity + hybrid + solution oriented schemes) constituted close to 51% i.e. Rs 22.74 lakh crore.
Further, as against May 2023, the total number of SIP accounts inched up to 6.65 crore and the SIP AUM grew modestly to Rs. 7.94 lakh crore as on June 2023. Further, investors registered 27.79 lakh SIP accounts in June 2023.
Here are the other key data points of June 2023.
Small cap appeal and equity inflows
In response to the bull run and small cap appeal, investors pumped a record amount of Rs. 5,472 crore into small cap funds. Moreover, as seen from outflows of Rs.2,050 crore in large cap funds, many investors appear to chase returns as they shift their preference from large cap funds to small cap funds.
Other categories like focused funds, ELSS and flexi cap funds witnessed net outflows in June 2023.
Overall, equities received net flows of Rs 8,637 crore partially due to six product launches which mobilised Rs 3,038 crore in June 2023. These launches included - Baroda BNP Paribas Value Fund, ITI Focused Equity Fund, HDFC Defence Fund, quant BFSI Fund, NJ ELSS Tax Saver Scheme and 360 ONE Flexicap Fund.
Institutional withdrawals and debt outflows
Liquid funds showed the highest outflows of Rs. 28,545 crore apparently due to institutional withdrawals. Corporates usually prefer such schemes to park funds temporarily for quarterly advance tax payments. Further, ultra short duration funds had the next largest outflows of Rs. 1,887 crore.
A few more debt fund categories reported outflows - banking and PSU funds, credit risk funds, short duration funds, medium duration funds, medium to long duration funds and gilt funds with 10-year constant duration.
These outflows were partially offset by money market funds and overnight funds which respectively received inflows of Rs 6,827 crore and Rs. 4,628 crore, the highest among others.
The debt category reported overall outflows of Rs. 14,136 crore.
Arbitrage opportunities and hybrid inflows
Under the hybrid category, arbitrage funds had the highest inflows (Rs.3,366 crore) followed by multi asset allocation funds (Rs.1,323 crore). Barring balanced hybrid funds, aggressive hybrid funds and dynamic asset allocation/balanced advantage funds, other fund categories reported net inflows. Also, through Edelweiss Multi Asset Allocation Fund, the industry mobilised Rs 112 crore.
Overall, hybrid funds received inflows of Rs. 4,611 crore.
Profit booking and index outflows
After a series of inflows, index funds reported outflows of Rs. 906 crore largely due to investors exiting to book profits.
However, the MF industry mobilised Rs. 63 crore last month through the launch of Kotak Nifty 200 Momentum 30 Index Fund, UTI NIFTY50 Equal Weight Index Fund and UTI S&P BSE Housing Index Fund.
Gold and other ETF inflows
Gold reported net inflows of Rs 70 crore.
Other ETFs also received net inflows to the tune of Rs 3,402 crore. Notably, Mirae Asset MF was the sole fund house to launch a product under this category. It launched Mirae Asset Silver ETF which mobilised Rs. 15 crore.
What do the experts say?
Akhil Chaturvedi, Chief Business Officer, Motilal Oswal MF - The equity fund category of choice for investors continued to remain small caps as has been the trend for the quarter and new financial year. Small caps garnered Rs 5,500 crore of the total Rs 8,600 crore net inflows in equity funds. Hybrid funds also saw in uptick in net inflows with arbitrage funds and multi asset funds getting a majority of the fund flows. All in all, markets continue to remain buoyant and investors continue to remain attracted to equity as an asset class.
Manish Mehta, National Head and Sales, Marketing & Digital Business, Kotak MF - June net numbers were a tad higher than May. Some profit booking at higher levels to maintain asset allocation is not ruled out but investors continue to keep investing through SIPs and STPs. Disciplined asset allocation is the mantra for long term wealth creation.
NS Venkatesh, Chief Executive Officer, AMFI - It is particularly encouraging to see money flowing into equity schemes, with small-cap inflows at an all-time high. This is the outcome of mutual fund houses' commitment to investor awareness, transparency, the comprehensive disclosure and factsheets, which have been instrumental in building trust among investors. Additionally, the impressive performance of corporate earnings further strengthens the case for investing in India.
