Mutual funds see net redemptions of Rs 73,000 crore in March

Investors pulled out over Rs 73,000 crore from various mutual fund schemes in March, primarily due to high redemptions in Liquid Funds.

Despite this, mutual fund (MF) schemes saw a net inflow of Rs 1.34 lakh crore in 2015-16. In comparison, MFs had witnessed an inflow of Rs 1.03 lakh crore in the preceding financial year.

"Every year March month high outflow is routine phenomenon and we should not read much into it. It happens due to high redemptions in Liquid Funds by the big corporate for year closing. Like the trend of many years, ever this year also, more than 90 per cent of the redemptions for the March month is in liquid funds.

"These funds generally come back in the month of April, as per the trend," Bajaj Capital Senior VP and National Head- Mutual Funds Anjaneya Gautam said.

According to the data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), total redemptions from MF schemes stood at Rs 73,113 crore last month as compared to Rs 1,09,897 crore in March 2015.

The latest outflow was mainly driven by contribution from Liquid or money market segment. Besides, income segment too witnessed outflow.

Liquid or money market segment witnessed redemptions to the tune of Rs 58,605 crore last month, while income segment saw net outflow of Rs 14,048 crore. In addition, equity funds saw net outflow of Rs 3,206 crore.

Overall, the asset base of the country's fund houses stood at Rs 13.53 lakh crore last month from Rs 11.88 lakh crore at the end of March 2015.