Monthly SIP inflows of MFs cross Rs 10K cr

The monthly contribution through the systematic investment plan of mutual fund industry crossed 100 bln rupees for the first time ever aided by large folio additions and buoyant equity markets, according to the latest data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

The data showed that the SIP inflow for September stood at 103.5 bln rupees, higher than 99.2 bln rupees in the previous month.

During the conference call, AMFI Chief Executive N.S. Venkatesh said that the systematic investment folio additions were at all-time highs in September.

He said that the efforts of fund houses to increase presence in the beyond top-30 cities has also helped the industry to get high systematic investment flows.

He said the industry added 2.7 mln such folios during the month, and about 1.03 mln folios were matured and discontinued, taking the total number of SIP accounts to 44.9 mln as at the end of September.

"Retail investors are preferring mutual funds, over low-yielding traditional savings avenue like bank fixed deposits, and also gold and real estate," Venkatesh highlighted.

As on Sep 30, assets under management of systematic investment plans grew by 3.4% on month to 5.4 trln rupees.

However, on an overall basis, the mutual fund industry witnessed net outflows of 472.6 bln rupees in September, as compared to net inflows of 329.8 bln rupees in August.

Total assets of the mutual fund industry grew by 0.4% on month to 36.7 trln rupees as on September-end.

Folios, or the number of investor accounts, stood at 111.7 mln, higher than 108.6 mln in August.

In September, the open-ended debt scheme saw net outflows of over 639 bln rupees, majorly led by 483.8-bln-rupee outflows from liquid funds due to quarter-end and half-year fund requirements by banks and corporates.

Categories like low duration fund, ultrashort duration fund and money market funds reported net outflows during the month. On the other hand, the industry saw net inflows of 21 bln rupees in medium duration funds and 11.2 bln rupees in medium-to-long duration funds. Floater funds, too, received net inflows of 58.7 bln rupees, but it was lower than 99.9 bln rupees in the previous month. Net inflows into equity funds remained steady during September

and stood at 86.8 bln rupees.