Equity MFs Attract Rs 8,666-Crore in Aug; Flexi-Cap Biggest Contributor

Equity mutual funds attracted a little over Rs 8,666 crore in August, making it the sixth consecutive monthly net inflow, on staggering investment in flexi-cap category.

In comparison, such funds witnessed a net inflow on Rs 22,583 crore in July on huge investments in flexi-cap category, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Wednesday.

Equity schemes saw net inflow of Rs 5,988 crore n June, Rs 10,083 crore in May, Rs 3,437 crore in April and Rs 9,115 crore in March. Prior to this, equity schemes had consistently witnessed outflows for eight months from July 2020 to February 2021.

The inflow pushed assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry to an all-time high of Rs 36.6 lakh crore at August-end from Rs 35.32 lakh crore at July-end.

According to the data, inflows into equity and equity-linked open ended schemes were at Rs 8,666.68 crore in August. Within the categories of equity funds, flexi-cap segment saw highest net infusion of Rs 4,741 crore, followed by focussed fund that witnessed a net investment of Rs 3,073 crore and sectoral funds that attracted Rs 1,885 crore.

However, multi-cap, large-cap, small-cap funds, equity linked saving schemes (ELSS) and value fund witnessed outflows last month. Apart from equities, investors put in Rs 18,706 crore in hybrid funds in the month under review.

This included Rs 16,571 crore in arbitrage funds. Further, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) witnessed net inflow of Rs 24 crore last month, compared to net outflow of Rs 61.5 crore in July.

In addition, investors infused a net sum of Rs 1,074 crore in debt mutual funds in the month under review compared to a net Rs 73,964 crore in July. Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed a net inflow of Rs 32,976 crore across all segments last month, compared to an inflow of Rs 1.14 lakh crore in July. (PTI)