New Delhi, Oct 11: Debt-oriented mutual fund schemes witnessed a net outflow of over Rs 51,900 crore in September, making it the second consecutive monthly withdrawal, largely on the back of a massive pullout from liquid category.
Morningstar India Associate Director - Manager Research Himanshu Srivastava said investors are focusing on fixed income categories having relatively shorter duration profile, such as low duration and short duration funds, given the current interest rate scenario.
In addition, they are preferring funds with pristine credit quality, especially from banking & PSU category, he said.
According to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), mutual funds (MFs) that invest in fixed-income securities or debt funds saw an outflow of Rs 51,962 crore last month as compared to Rs 3,907 crore in August.
Prior to that, debt funds had seen an inflow of Rs 91,392 crore in July, Rs 2,862 crore in June, Rs 63,665 crore in May and Rs 43,431 crore in April.
"With September being the quarter-end month, debt-oriented schemes expectedly witnessed significant net outflows," Srivastava said.
Groww co-founder and COO Harsh Jain said the outflow is expected at the end of every quarter as corporates take out money from liquid funds to pay tax.
Liquid funds witnessed net outflows to the tune of Rs 65,952 crore, which is where corporate companies tend to park money, followed by ultra short duration funds (Rs 4,867 crore) and money market funds ( Rs 4,857 crore).
Further, investors continue to tread a line of caution by staying away from riskier investments, given the credit crisis in the March-April period, which adversely impacted fixed income markets. Hence, credit category continues to witness outflows, although the pace has slowed down significantly, Srivastava said.