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March 10, 2021

Mutual funds’ assets touch record high

AUM rose ~4% in February

 

Bouncing back from the decline witnessed in January, assets under management (AUM) of the domestic mutual fund industry breached the Rs 31.5 lakh crore mark for the first time, settling 3.7% higher at Rs 31.6 lakh crore at end-February. The previous high recorded was at end-2020, when the asset base had settled at ~Rs 31.02 lakh crore. Inflows in the open-ended debt and hybrid categories, coupled with mark-to-market gains in the domestic equity market, were the main factor contributing to the rise in the asset base in February even as outflows from equity funds capped gains. Cumulatively, the industry’s fund flows remained negative at ~Rs 1,844 crore.

 

 

Equity market volatility attracts flows in asset allocation and arbitrage funds

 

Dynamic asset allocation schemes witnessed the highest net inflows for the category since April 2019 at ~Rs 2,006 crore in February, with investors attracted by the flexibility in asset allocation on offer. Interest in arbitrage schemes also remained firm, with net inflows at ~Rs 5,033 crore as market participants looked to take advantage of the volatility in the underlying equity market. Aided by the inflows, the hybrid category recorded net inflows of ~Rs 4,703 crore, higher than January’s net inflows of Rs 2,142 crore.

 

The other hybrid categories, viz., aggressive hybrid, equity savings, and multi-asset allocation categories, however recorded persistent outflows in February, though they were cumulatively lower at ~Rs 2,481 crore compared with the previous month’s ~Rs 3,823 crore.

 

At the aggregate level, the asset base of hybrid schemes advanced ~6.6%, or by Rs 20,971 crore, to Rs 3.38 lakh crore in February (the highest since February 2020’s figure of Rs 3.43 lakh crore).