Equity MF inflows see a dip of 26% in February; small cap funds decline 35%, midcap drop 34% 

Mutual fund inflows saw a decrease in February, with net equity inflows amounting to Rs 29,241.78 crore, the latest data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed. This marked a 26.29% decline month-on-month (MoM) compared to January, where net equity inflows were at Rs 39,669.6 crore.

The overall net inflows into mutual funds dropped by 79% in February, coinciding with a 5% decline in benchmark indices Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex. It is worth noting that there was a slight decline in equity inflows in January, with a 3.6% decrease MoM.

In particular, there was a significant decrease in inflows for mid and small cap funds, with monthly inflows dropping to Rs 3,406 crore and Rs 3,722 crore in February from Rs 5,147 crore and Rs 5,720 crore in January. The inflows into small-cap funds dropped 35% and mid cap funds declined 34%. Meanwhile, inflows for large cap funds stood at Rs 2,866 crore in February, down from Rs 3,063 crore in January. 

In February, all debt mutual fund categories experienced outflows except for liquid funds, short-duration funds, medium-to-long duration funds, corporate bond funds, banking & PSU funds, and gilt funds with a 10-year constant duration.

Debt mutual funds saw an outflow of Rs 6,525 crore in February.  Hybrid funds attracted Rs 6,804 crore, a decrease from Rs 8,767.5 crore in January. Meanwhile, liquid funds saw inflows of Rs 4,977 crore.

ETF inflows increased to Rs 3,846 crore from Rs 1,172 crore. On the other hand, credit risk funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 198 crore in February, compared to Rs 294 crore in January. ELSS funds recorded Rs 615 crore in inflows, down from Rs 797 crore.

The total assets under management (AUM) amounted to Rs 64.53 lakh crore, a decrease from Rs 67.25 lakh crore in January.

There was a positive inflow of Rs 1,065 crore in corporate bond funds, reversing from an outflow of Rs 217.4 crore. Dividend funds attracted Rs 68.7 crore, a decrease from Rs 215 crore.

New fund offers (NFOs) collected Rs 4,029 crore, compared to Rs 4,544 crore in the previous month. Gold ETFs recorded inflows of Rs 1,980 crore, down from Rs 3,751.4 crore in January.