New Delhi, Sep 9: Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 3,999.62 crore in August, significantly higher from Rs 2,480 crore in July, according to data released by the association of mutual funds in India (AMFI).

Equity MFs in July had witnessed first outflow in over four years.

Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed a net inflow of Rs 14,558.20 crore and outflow of Rs 18,557.82 crore. On the other hand, about 4.65 lakh of new folios were added in August, while the SIP amount added about 3.43 lakh new folios in the same month.

Balanced hybrid fund witnessed a net outflow of Rs 2,355.3 crores in August, while the ETF segment gained a net inflow of Rs 1,721.76 crores.

“Addition of new folios in August indicate a sustained retail interest in mutual funds. It appears that some investors have taken a tactical asset allocation call by moving from equity to low duration or ultra short-term funds with the objective of re-entering equity funds at lower levels in the event of a correction in the markets,” G Pradeepkumar, CEO, Union AMC, said.

According to Himanshu Srivastava, associate director (Research), Morningstar India, the large-cap category was the worst hit in August followed by multi-cap and value fund categories.

“The number of folios as well as funds mobilised during the month was marginally higher than July. But at the same time, redemptions shot up sharply. This indicates that more investors chose to book profit given the surge in the equity markets across segments in recent times,” he said.

Except for focused, sectoral, and ELSS fund categories, all the other categories witnessed net outflows in August. The other ETF segment continued to get investor traction. With many actively managed funds struggling to outperform the benchmark indexes, investors have seemingly turned their focus towards ETFs, Srivastava said.