Equity mutual funds grow 3% to Rs 38,239 crore in August; debt flow plunges

New Delhi: Equity mutual funds continued their robust momentum in August attracting Rs 38,239 crore driven by strong contributions from thematic schemes.

The quantum of net inflow was 3 per cent higher from Rs 37,113 crore logged in July. The latest flow also marks the 42nd consecutive month of net inflows in equity funds, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed on Tuesday.

"Net flows continue to remain encouraging with SIP (Systematic Investment Plan)and NFO (New Fund Offering) inflows. Sectoral/thematic category of schemes witnessed strong inflows due to NFO. NFOs seem to be the preferred route for investors to take a lump sum allocation to mutual funds since schemes have the flexibility to invest over a stipulated time period," Manish Mehta, National Head - Sales, Marketing & Digital Business, Kotak Mahindra AMC, said.

Overall, the mutual fund industry has witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.08 lakh crore in the month under review as compared to Rs 1.9 lakh crore in July.

With these inflows, the industry's net assets under management rose to an all-time high of Rs 66.7 lakh crore in August-end from Rs 65 lakh crore in July-end.

According to the data, except for the focused and equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) categories, all the other categories witnessed good net inflows.

Within the equity schemes, sector or thematic funds attracted investors with the highest net inflows of Rs 18,117 crore during the month under review. However, flow in the segment was less compared to Rs 18,386 crore in July and Rs 22,352 crore in June.

Debt-oriented schemes experienced net inflows of Rs 45,169 crore in August, which was 62 per cent lower than Rs 1.2 lakh crore seen in the preceding month.