Invest more as SIP closure ratio rises

Long-term investors may use this number as a contrarian signal

In the last two fiscals, mutual funds have made a huge contribution to equity markets. The lion’s share of fund inflows has come from retail investors. As a result, lukewarm and negative foreign institutional investor (FII) contributions have been more than counter-balanced.

In 2017-18, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) put Rs 256.35 billion (bn) into equities. An impressive sum in itself. But it was less than half of the Rs 557.03 bn FPIs invested in 2016-17. In 2018-19 (April 2018-Feb 21, 2019), FPIs have pulled out Rs 489.11 bn.

The total fund contribution to equities was Rs 638.9 bn in 2015-16.