Equity mutual funds saw an inflow of ₹18,917.09 crore in April with midcap funds and smallcap funds recording an improvement in inflows after moderation in March. Total inflows into equity funds in March was ₹22,633.15 crore.
Inflows into midcap and smallcap funds during the month was ₹1,793.07 crore and ₹2,208.70 crore, respectively, compared with an inflow of ₹1,017.69 crore in midcap funds and an outflow of ₹94.17 crore in smallcap funds in March.
“The smallcap funds, which witnessed some correction on the back of a recent Sebi mandate requiring routine stress tests to be conducted, registered net inflows in April. We are of the view that small cap and midcap funds will continue to hold investor interest in the medium to long term,” said Ashwini Kumar senior vice-president and head market data, ICRA Analytics.
“We have started putting up the data regarding the smallcap and midcap funds and we also demonstrated that whatever controls are being put in place are to the extent satisfying the investors. They are seeing confidence in it and are coming back to this particular space,” said Venkat Chalasani, chief executive, AMFI.
The debt funds saw an inflow of ₹1,89,890.52 crore in April compared with an outflow of ₹1,98,298.90 crore in March. This is primarily driven by portfolio adjustment of investors in the liquid funds following withdrawals from these funds at the year-end.
“The RBI’s stance to maintain status quo on policy rates for the next one or two quarters is likely to lead to some softness in yields in the near term. However, investors are likely to be a little watchful of the developments around election months and keep a close watch on the global interest rates,” said Kumar.
The net assets under management of the mutual fund industry were ₹57.25 trillion in April, up 7.23 per cent from ₹53.40 trillion in March.
KYC changes
The mutual fund industry has seen changes in KYC processes and classification.
Effective from April 1, 2024, there are now three categories — validated, registered and put on hold.
