Investments in equity MFs dip 41 per cent to Rs 75k cr

Experts, however, are of the view that equity schemes will attract investor interest this year as the market is expected to perform well.

“While volatility in the market may continue for some more time going forward, we believe investors will want to benefit from this volatility and use it to create and growth their wealth. As we expect industry inflows to rise, we believe that all categories of mutual funds including equity funds to see a steady rise in flows,” said Ashwani Bhatia, MD-CEO, SBI Mutual Fund.

According to data with Association of Mutual funds in India (Amfi) equity and equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) attracted an inflow of Rs 74,870 crore in 2019, much lower than Rs 1.2 trillion (Rs 1.2 lakh cr) seen in 2018.

In 2017, such schemes had witnessed an impressive inflow of around Rs 1.33 trillion (Rs 1.33 lakh cr) as compared to Rs 51,000 crore in 2016. Equity schemes have seen a little bit of a slowdown in 2019 as compared to the past few years because of extremely volatile markets, L&T Mutual Fund chief Kailash Kulkarni said.

Overall, fund houses have garnered Rs 82,453 cr via SIPs – a preferred route for retail investors to invest in mutual funds as it helps them reduce market timing risk. The industry added over 9.55 lakh SIP accounts each month in the year with an average SIP size of about Rs 2,850 per SIP account.