MFS SEE RS 54,000 CR INFLOW IN JAN; RS 3.67L CR IN FY’17

NEW DELHI: Investors have pumped in nearly Rs 54,000 crore into various mutual fund schemes in January, with liquid, income and equity funds attracting the most of the inflows. With this, total inflows has reached Rs 3.67 lakh crore in the first ten months of the current fiscal (2016-17). In comparison, Rs 1.84 lakh crore was invested in various mutual fund products during April-january period of 2015-16. “Investors may have seen the volatility of the current fiscal as a positive to average out costs. Retail investors also appear to have become savvier, using liquid schemes to either earn higher returns or to run Systematic Transfer Plan (STPS) into equity funds to average costs,” said Srikanth Meenakshi, the COO of Fundsindia.com, an investment portal for mutual funds. “Apart from equity, inflows into debt funds have risen. Deposit rates have been falling, resulting in lower returns for investors. Falling rates help debt fund returns as yields instruments rally, which could have additionally helped draw in investors,” Srikanth added. According to the data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), a net sum of Rs 53,817 crore has been invested in mutual funds in the month of January. The latest inflows have been mainly driven by contribution from liquid, income and equity funds. Liquid or money market fund category attracted Rs 28,588 crore in January, while income funds saw net inflows of Rs 10,541 crore. Equity and equity-linked schemes saw inflows of around Rs 4,880 crore.