India-dedicated funds see outflows of $5.4 billion, shows EPFR data

India-dedicated funds saw outflows to the tune of $950 million in December, taking their total outflows for calendar year 2019 (CY19) to $5.4 billion, the EPFR data compiled by Kotak Institutional Equities shows.
 
Global emerging market (GEM) funds saw inflows of $628 million, taking the 2019 inflows to about $1.2 billion. Outflows from India-dedicated, GEM, and other categories of funds totalled $363 million in August and $5.3 billion in CY19. Assets under management (AUM) of India-dedicated funds have slid 3.6 per cent in the past year to $44.2 billion. In comparison, AUM of GEMs rose 6.8 per cent to $81.5 billion.
 
The EPFR fund-flow data primarily tracks mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, variable annuity funds, and insurance-linked funds. It does not include investments from hedge funds, proprietary desks and sovereign wealth funds, which are tracked by NSDL.
 
The overall allocation to India by Asia ex-Japan funds declined 12.6 per cent in December from 13.1 per cent in November, while that by GEM funds declined to 9.3 per cent from 9.8 per cent in the previous month.
 
Financials witnessed heavy buying in December, with inflows of $711 million, followed by information technology ($687 mn).