The total mutual fund industry asset rose

Mumbai: Inflows into equity mutual funds saw a further drop in January to Rs 6,158 crore, as the equity market remained volatile. Inflows were came in lower compared to the figure of Rs 6,606 crore in December, if balanced funds outflow of rs 952 crore is also counted, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.

The total mutual fund industry asset rose to Rs 23.37 lakh crore from Rs 22.86 lakh crore in December on account of big inflows in debt mutual funds, of which Rs 58,637 crore went into liquid/money market mutual fund schemes.  Income funds also saw inflow of Rs 2,080 crore.

In January 2018, the inflow into equity mutual funds and equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) totalled Rs 15,390 crore. Contrary to outflow from balanced funds last month, last year in January balanced funds had seen an inflow of Rs 7,665 crore. The exchange traded funds (ETFs) category saw an inflow of Rs 721 crore.

January 2019 inflows into ELSS scheme surged to Rs 1,244 crore from Rs 841 crore in December as retail investors invest lump sum in ELSS towards the close of the financial year to claim tax exemptions on their annual income.

N S Venkatesh, CEO, AMFI, commenting on the monthly data, said, "Despite acute market volatility owing to credit events and global uncertainty, retail investors continue to repose their faith in the India growth story. This is quite evident from the SIP flows and folio numbers, which continue to rise sequentially. On the debt AUMs (assets under management), with RBI easing the rates, we expect to see flows rise in the coming weeks.''