Investments in mutual fund systematic investment plans (SIPs) rose from Rs 13,306.49 crore in November 2022 to Rs 13,573.08 crore in December 2022, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) said in a report on Tuesday.
The inflow in mutual fund SIPs in December was Rs 7,303.39 crore, registering a positive growth in equity-oriented mutual funds for the 22nd month consecutive month, it said. In addition the number of SIP accounts for the month of December 2022 stood at 6,12,42,531 and it is up by 7,85,102 from the month of November which was at 6,04,57,429 accounts. New SIP registered for the month of December 2022 were 23,24,070.
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Commenting on the data, AMFI CEO N.S. Venkatesh said, “The importance of investing in equity markets for the longer term goals is not lost on investors and the same is reflected in the ever-increasing awareness and adoption of SIP as a goal-linked route to create wealth over the long term. This month almost 24 lac new SIPs were registered, which shows increasing investor belief in the instrument. SIPs are the simplest route to build a disciplined habit of regular investing.”
Small-cap funds saw the highest inflows at Rs 2,244.77 crore in December. Mid-cap schemes saw an inflow of Rs 1,962.26 crore. However, the sectoral or thematic funds witnessed a net outflow of Rs 203.59 crore, and the outflow from focused funds was at Rs 164.32 crore.
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In the fixed income or debt space, liquid mutual funds saw the biggest outflow at Rs 13,852 crore, followed by floater funds with a net outflow of Rs 2,239.78 core. Overall, the cumulative outflow in the fixed income or debt space was Rs 21,946.73 crore.
“The debt scheme outflows in December were due to the quarter end because that's when the corporates usually take out their money to pay tax,” Venkatesh added.
However, ultra short-term duration funds saw a net inflow of Rs 1,737.01 crore. Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs ) saw an outflow of Rs 273.19 crore.
Kavitha Krishnan, senior analyst - manager research, Morningstar India, said in a statement, "We’ve also witnessed a positive flow from FII’s during the month of December, which has likely led to the increased inflow during the month. Most sectors witnessed a negative return during the month of December 2022, except for PSU banks and metals. The performance in PSU banks is likely driven by multiple factors including the central bank’s measures to improve liquidity and reduce NPA’s within the banking sector. Metals on the other hand, has been on the rise for over a year now, however a correction in prices among other factors has led to a lower performance in the sector in comparison to what it did in the past."
Index funds too saw an uptick in investments in December, with a net inflow of Rs 6,736.52 crore. In November 2022, the inflows in index funds stood at Rs 8,601 crore. Overall, the inflows into index funds decreased on a month-to-month basis.
Also, in December, 36 new mutual fund schemes were launched, of which 24 were open-ended. In aggregate, they collected Rs 8,486 crore. Of these new schemes, 16 were in the debt category and six were equity-oriented. In addition, nine index funds, four ETFs, and one multi-asset scheme were launched in December 2022.
