Equity mutual fund inflow hits almost 2-year high of Rs 21,780-crore in January

Equity mutual funds experienced a net inflow of Rs 21,780 crore in January, making it the highest monthly infusion in nearly two years, propelled by investors' continued preference for small-cap funds. In comparison, an inflow of around Rs 17,000 crore was seen in the category in December, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Thursday.

The flow in January was the highest since March 2022, when equity-oriented mutual funds witnessed an inflow of Rs 28,463 crore. Also, the latest flow marks the 35th consecutive month of net inflows in equity funds.

Barring value fund, all categories experienced inflow in equity segments. The category was aided by fund collection to the tune of Rs 4,805 crore in thematic funds, followed by Rs 3,257 crore in small-cap funds and Rs 3,039 crore in multi-cap funds.

The highlight of this month was the fund flows into the large-cap category at Rs 1,287 crore, which was at the highest-level in more than 13 months.

"With midcaps at 15 per cent and small caps at 20 per cent premiums, investors are realising the considerable valuation gap with the large-cap segment, and accordingly making adjustments to their investments.

"Though small-cap funds garnered greater than Rs 3,000 crore of net flows for the fourth consecutive month, the quantum was lower by Rs 600 crore on a month-on-month basis," Gopal Kavalireddi, Vice President of Research at FYERS, said.

Apart from equities, debt-oriented schemes witnessed a net inflow of Rs 76,469 crore in January after withdrawing funds in the preceding two months. The segment had witnessed a net outflow of Rs 75,560 crore in December and Rs 4,707 crore in November.

Additionally, hybrid schemes saw an inflow of Rs 20,637 crore.

Overall, the mutual fund industry has witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.23 lakh crore in the month under review as compared to an outflow of Rs 40,685 crore in December.

The strong inflow pushed the mutual fund industry's assets under management to Rs 52.74 lakh crore in January-end as compared to Rs 50.78 lakh crore at the end of December.