Equity MF assets base at record high of Rs 4.5 lakh crore

Market experts attributed the rise in the inflow to investments in SIPs and strong participation from retail investors

Assets base of equity mutual fund surged to a record high of Rs 4.5 lakh crore at the end of July, primarily on account of sharp inflow in such schemes.

Market experts attributed the rise in the inflow to investments in Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) and strong participation from retail investors.

Besides, declining interest rate for bank deposits is encouraging investors to put a big chunk of their savings into equities, they added.

Equity funds, which also include equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) saw net inflow of Rs 11,985 crore during April-July period of the current financial year. This included an inflow of Rs 2,506 crore in July, according to data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).

The huge inflow has pushed the assets under management (AUM) of equity mutual fund to Rs 4.5 lakh crore at the end of July. The previous high was in June, when assets base of equity mutual funds stood at Rs 4.28 lakh crore.

Over the past two years, domestic investors have been playing a key role in countering the outflow from foreign investors.

Overall, assets under management (AUM) of the industry, comprising 42 active players, also reached to an all time high of Rs 15.2 lakh crore at the end of last month from Rs 13.81 lakh crore in June-end.

Mutual Fund are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors and invest in stocks, bonds and money market instruments, among others.