AMFI Monthly Data: Fewer NFOs in January drive equity inflows down to Rs 14,887.77 crore

Equity funds saw a healthy inflow of Rs 14,887.77 crore in January, marking a dip from Rs 25,082.54 crore a month back, possibly because of fewer New Fund Offers (NFO). SIP accounts, on the other hand, topped a record 5 crore during the month.

The assets under management (AUM) for equity schemes stood at Rs 13,56,106.47 crore in January. Except for value/contra funds, all categories of equity funds showed positive investment flows, according data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Small-cap funds attracted handsome inflows of about Rs 1,498 crore - the highest in this category since August 2021.

With 26.51 lakh fresh accounts being added, the number of SIP accounts crossed 5 crore, for the first time in history. The growth is noticeable and evident, given that the total SIP accounts for December 2021 were around 4.98 crore.

As for debt funds, January 2022 saw an inflow of Rs 5,081.61 crore, a staggering rise from the net outflow of Rs 49,037.52 crore it recorded a month earlier. Out of all the major debt funds, liquid funds saw an outflow of Rs 14,396.91 crore.

Even Banking and PSU debt funds saw an outflow of Rs 2,537.22 crore. Inflows for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) stood at Rs 8,860.97 crore for the past month. As for Index funds, they saw an inflow of Rs 4,914.43 crore.

Indicative of excellent retail participation, the total number of folios as of January 2022 stood at 12.31 crore, with an on-month growth of around 28 percent and a yearly growth of 29 percent.

According to AMFI chief executive NS Venkatesh, January was a "reasonably good" month since compared to global equity markets, the Indian equity markets have not corrected as much, which means a positive outlook and inflows for the upcoming months.

This can also be attributed to the growing participation of retail investors in the market who believe in the Indian growth story.