INVESTORS TOOK OUT ₹2,725 CR FROM EQUITY MFS IN OCTOBER

Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of ₹2,725 crore in October, making it the fourth consecutive monthly withdrawal, on profit booking by investors. All the equity schemes, barring large- and midcap and sectoral funds, have seen outflows, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Monday.

However, investors put in over ₹1.1 lakh crore from debt mutual funds (MFs) last month after pulling out over ₹51,900 crore in September. Overall, the MF industry witnessed a net inflow of ₹98,576 crore across all segments during the period under review, against an outflow of ₹52,000 crore in September.

The positive inflow from debt funds pushed the asset under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry to record ₹28.22 lakh crore at the end of October, from ₹26.86 lakh crore at the end of September.

According to the data, outflow from equity and equity-linked open-ended schemes was at ₹2,725 crore in October, much higher than the ₹734 crore outflow seen in September.

The equity schemes had witnessed an outflow of ₹4,000 crore in August and another ₹2,480 crore in July, which was their first withdrawal in over four years. Prior to this, such schemes had attracted ₹240.55 crore in June.

The net outflows in October could be largely attributed to profit booking by investors on the back of surge in equity markets, said Himanshu Srivastava, associate director (manager research) at Morningstar India.

“The number of folios as well as funds mobilised during the month was higher than September, however, at the same time, the redemption amount too shot up,” he added.

The outflow comes at a time when benchmark indices are at all-time highs, last seen in January 2020.