At 1.67 million, March logs most SIP registrations in FY21: Amfi data

As many as 1.67 million new systematic investment plans (SIPs) were registered in March, the highest for the financial year 2020-21 and 42 per cent more than the monthly average for the year.
 
The number of SIPs discontinued also fell to 0.71 million in March, from 0.79 million in the previous month. Total contribution through the SIP route also rose to Rs 9,182 crore in March, against Rs 7,528 crore in February. Total SIP contribution in FY21 stood at Rs 96,000 crore, against Rs 1 trillion seen in FY20 – which, industry players said, was encouraging for a pandemic-stricken year.
 
Also after eight straight months of outflows, equity-oriented schemes reported net inflows of Rs 9,115 crore in March.
 
The revival in flows and an uptick in new accounts is an encouraging sign for the Rs 32-trillion domestic mutual fund industry. But experts say the resurgence in Covid-19 caseloads can impact sales going ahead.
 
“During the start of the month, there was a feeling that Covid crises were behind us and investors waiting on the sidelines had started re-investing. Given the current scenario in the country and announcements of some restrictions by state governments, there is likely to have some impact on equity inflows over the next few months,” said Jimmy Patel, MD and CEO at Quantum AMC.

 
In the last financial year, 14.13 million SIP accounts got registered, while 8.6 million SIP accounts were closed. The closure figure included SIPs that were abruptly discontinued and also the ones whose tenure completed. SIP is a method of investing wherein an investor chooses a mutual fund scheme and invests the fixed amount of his choice at fixed intervals.
 
Industry executives said a slew of new fund offers (NFOs) launched in March supported flows. “The surge in net inflows can also be attributed to NFOs and there was a lot of churning from one fund to another,” said a senior official from the leading fund house.
 
In March, the industry raised aroundRs 4,500 crore through NFOs from across categories. Total fund mobilised by debt-oriented schemes was Rs 1,784 crore, while equity schemes and other schemes (passive and fund of fund) collected Rs 794 crore and Rs 1,961 crore, respectively, in March.
“Net flows were witnessed across equity fund categories in March. While it’s too early to make any conclusions, it seems like equity investors waiting on the sidelines for a market correction have started making allocations taking a long-term investing view on equities, as should be the case,” said Kaustubh Belapurkar, director-manager research, Morningstar India.