Equity mutual funds inflows grow over 14% in Dec; small, midcap scheme hit record high: AMFI

The inflow into mutual fund (MF) equity schemes in December 2024 soared 14.5% month-on-month to ₹41,156 crore despite continued market volatilities, industry body AMFI said.

The small and midcap mutual fund schemes continued to draw investor interest with inflows touching new record highs of ₹4,667 crore and ₹5,093 crore, respectively, during the last month of 2024. This was despite rising concerns about the risks.

The monthly inflow into systematic investment plans (SIPs) shot up to ₹26,459 crore in December from ₹25,320 crore in November 2024, highlighting a 4.5% growth. Their assets under manager (AUM) stood at ₹12.63 lakh crore, a fifth of the overall SIP AUM in 2024, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) highlighted.

Declining overall MF AUM

The overall mutual funds' AUM slumped by 1.69% on a month-on-month basis, from ₹68.08 lakh crore in November to ₹66.93 lakh crore as of December 31, 2024.

This decline in overall MF AUM was due to mark-to-market losses on correction as well as outflows worth ₹1.27 lakh crore in debt schemes, which was in line with previous experiences of a pullout at the end of a quarter, Venkat Chalasani, chief executive of the AMFI said.

acknowledging that the uncertainties due to incoming Donald Trump’s administration in January may influence the market, Chalasani said Indian investors continued to repose faith in the equity market.

Pointing to the continued interest in SIPs, Chalasani said these inflows illustrate the optimism of the investors in the Indian markets over the long term.

New MF schemes

Asset management companies launched a total of 33 new fund offers during the month which mobilised over ₹13,643 crore of money, AMFI said, adding that this was higher than the 18 schemes that collected over ₹4,000 crore in November.

"Culmination of NFOs, SIPs and lump sum purchase led to an increase in net sales numbers. Investor confidence on mutual funds are an efficient tool for investments continue to remain strong," Kotak Mahindra AMC's national head for sales, marketing and digital business Manish Mehta said.

Within the equity schemes, the sectoral or thematic category attracted investors with the highest net inflow at ₹15,331 crore, which was almost double the ₹7,658 crore in November.

The large schemes, which are being recommended by a slew of watchers as a safer bet, saw inflows decline to ₹2,010 crore in December from over ₹2,500 crore in November, while the large and midcap category saw ₹3,811 crore, according to the AMFI data said.

Gold exchange-traded funds continued to witness lackluster inflows for the seventh consecutive month at ₹640 crore, Chalasani said.