India-dedicated funds see outflows in March, shows EPFR data

India-dedicated funds saw outflows to the tune of $692 million in March, taking total outflows in CY22, so far, to $1.2 billion, shows the EPFR data compiled by Kotak Institutional Equities. Global emerging market (GEM) funds saw inflows worth $653 million, taking the CY22 inflows to about $2.6 billion. Assets under management (AUM) of India-dedicated funds have declined 7 per cent in the past three months to $42 billion. AUM of GEMs have declined 11 per cent to $136 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. Listed emerging market fund flows were positive for almost all countries. China witnessed $4.8 billion of inflows, followed by Taiwan and Brazil, which saw $3.2 billion and $749 million worth of inflows. Total FPI activity and EPFR activity showed divergent trends for Taiwan and Thailand. India saw outflows of $44 million. The overall allocations to India by Asia ex-Japan funds increased to 15.9 per cent in March, from 15.7 per cent in February, while that by GEM funds increased to 13.9 per cent in March, from 13.3 per cent in the previous month. Financials witnessed heavy selling in March, with outflows of $3.4 billion, whereas consumer staples ($1.1 billion) and industrials ($1.3 billion) also saw sizeable outflows.