Withdrawals in global listed funds from Indian markets top $11 bn in cy20

Global listed funds pulled out over $11 billion from the Indian markets in the first nine months of 2020. During the same period last year, they had sold shares worth $5.3 billion, according to Kotak Institutional Equities data. 

The sharpest pull-out was from India-dedicated funds (both ETF and non-ETF) was at $8 billion, followed by global emerging market (GEM) funds at $2.8 billion. The trend was largely similar in September, with India-dedicated funds pulling out $689 million and GEM funds $184 billion. 

India-dedicated ETFs — such as MSCI India or FTSE Index — are used by overseas investors to gain access to domestic equities through the passive investment route. GEM ETFs — which include MSCI EM index or FTSE Asia Pacific index — are those in which India is part of a basket including other countries. 

Despite outflows from passive funds, FPI flows into India were largely positive at $4 billion during 9MCY20. This was largely on account of direct investments into large firms.