Despite market volatility in June, investors continue to join the equity bandwagon. The latest SEBI data shows that equity funds added over 3 lakh folios in June. A rough calculation shows that the industry has added over 13,500 folios each working day in June.
The total folio count of equity funds went up from 3.23 crore in May to 3.26 crore in June even though the BSE Sensex remained volatile in June. In fact, it fell to 26500 points before bouncing back to 27800 points giving investors an opportunity to enter.
The addition in folios was due to healthy inflows in existing schemes as equity funds saw net inflows of over Rs. 12,250 crore (including ELSS). More significantly, majority of the inflows came in existing funds. Existing funds received gross inflows of Rs. 17,287 crore while NFOs collected Rs. 104 crore. As a result, the equity AUM of the industry touched Rs. 3.72 lakh crore in June.
Balanced Funds
Balanced funds has witnessed an addition of 36,000 folios due to inflows in a few balanced schemes largely from institutional investors. The total folios in balanced funds increased from 20.57 lakh in May to 20.93 lakh in June.
Gold ETFs
Gold ETF folios dipped by 4,700 folios from 4.65 lakh in May to 4.61 lakh in June. Gold ETF has been the worst performing category, delivering negative 7% return over a one year period, shows Value Research data.
ETFs, which track the equity indices, are increasingly getting popular among retail investors. Folio count in this category has risen from 2.38 lakh in May to 2.42 lakh in June.
Overseas fund of funds
This category is seeing continuous erosion in folios. Folios in ‘overseas fund of funds’ category dropped by 1650. Value Research data shows that the category has delivered a paltry 3% return over a one year period.
Debt
Debt funds have also seen good traction as the total folio count in debt funds increased by 41,200 in June. Distributors say that accrual funds have seen good traction among retail investors.
Overall, reflecting the positive sentiment among investors, the industry has added over 3.90 lakh folios in equity funds in June. The total folio count across all categories increased to 4.28 crore in June from 4.24 crore in May.
