Mumbai: Gold continues to attract investor attention. According AMFI data, gold ETFs have collected Rs 942 crore this quarter compared to Rs 105 crore in the previous quarter of the corresponding year. In the month of June, gold ETFs mopped up Rs 252 crore.
“There is a lot of interest in gold funds among investors. The industry saw a couple of new gold fund launches also,” says Sandesh Kirkire, CEO, Kotak Mutual Fund.
A number of AMCs have launched gold saving schemes which allow investors to start SIPs without possessing a demat account. This strategy could be a game changer for the ETF market which has not been able to attract huge inflows. Other roadblocks for ETFs are lack of broker interest, low commission and illiquidity.
Market linked ETFs on the other hand lost Rs 210 crore in June and the net outflow YTD (April-June 2011) stood at Rs 331 crore. BSE Sensex has slipped 3% from 19420 in April to 18846 as on 30 June 2011. Market jitters kept the inflows in equity funds low at Rs 20 crore in June. Equity funds saw net inflows of Rs 490 core in the current quarter compared to net outflows of Rs 1,323 crore last year. Equity mutual funds AUM spiked marginally by 1 % to Rs 1.68 lakh crore in June from Rs 1.67 lakh crore in May.
Equity linked saving schemes (ELSS) too recorded net outflows of Rs 80 crore in June taking the total outflow to Rs 437 crore this quarter. Similarly, gilt funds saw redemptions to the tune of Rs 88 crore in June, taking total outflows to Rs 279 crore (April-June 2011).
Union KBC Mutual Fund’s maiden fund Union KBC Equity Fund collected Rs 167 crore and Union KBC Liquid Fund collected Rs 1 crore. Religare Nifty ETF collected Rs 5 crore. Income schemes (both close ended and open ended) mopped up Rs 7,782 crore.
The total sales from 78 new scheme launches in June stood at Rs 7,955 crore. Of the 78 new launches, 75 were income funds and only 1 was an equity fund.
