April 2021 was a mixed bag for the mutual fund industry. This is attributable to the recent developments in the country that have led to the imposing of lockdown restrictions in several states. Naturally, the markets have been volatile over the last few months, hampering the inflows in the equity segment.
Equity mutual funds witnessed a fall in inflows in April 2021. They received a net inflow of Rs 3,437 crore over the month. The inflow recorded in March 2021 was a massive Rs 9,115 crore. Sectoral or thematic funds saw an inflow of Rs 1,705 crore last month, while mid-cap schemes garnered Rs 965 crore.
ELSS or tax-saving mutual funds logged an inflow of Rs 1,552 crore while its outflow was Rs 136 crore. Debt mutual funds amassed an inflow of a whopping Rs 1,00,903 crore in April 2021. However, its outflow was Rs 52,528 crore. Liquid funds led the inflows in debt funds as it mustered Rs 41,507 core last month.
Overnight, money market and short duration plans received an inflow of Rs 18,492 crore, Rs 20,286 crore, and Rs 1,246 crore, respectively. Good inflows were recorded in debt funds due to the volatility seen in stock markets over the last few days. Corporate bond funds and dynamic bond funds recorded a net outflow of Rs 1,880 crore and Rs 2,103 crore, respectively.
Balanced mutual funds recorded a net inflow of Rs 8,641 crore, and it was Rs 6,210 crore in the previous month. Among balanced or hybrid funds, arbitrage funds alone received a net inflow of Rs 7,245 crore. The investment received through systematic investment plans (SIPs) was Rs 8,590 crore. The number of registered SIP accounts increased to 3.79 crore (from 3.72 crore as of March 2021) by the end of April 2021.
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Engineer by qualification, financial writer by choice. I am always open to learning new things.
