MUMBAI: After several months of tepid inflows, investor interest in equity mutual funds saw a strong revival, pumping 21% more money into those schemes, pushing the industry’s assets under management to move closer to the Rs 81-trillion-mark in November.
However, inflows into SIPs dipped marginally to Rs 29,445 crore in November from Rs 29,529 crore in October, down 0.28% on an on-month basis and first time since April.
Equity funds saw a net 21.2% jump in inflows at Rs 29,911 crore up from Rs 24,690 crore in October, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds (Amfi) here Thursday.
Total assets under management of the industry rose to Rs 80.8 trillion or (Rs 80,80,369.52 crore), up from Rs 79.87 trillion in the previous month, which equity AUM stood at Rs 35.66 trillion, up from Rs 35.39 trillion in the previous month.
The month saw 24 new schemes being launched across categories, mobilising around Rs 3,126 crore.
Mutual fund folios stood at 25,86,14,320 with 26.11 lakh folios being added during the month. Folios in October were 25,60,03,815. Of this retail folios were 20,15,85,661 as against in 19,98,07,323 in October and the retail AUM stood at Rs 46,48,599 crore.
“This is the 57th month of positive equity inflows, starting from March 2021,” Venkat Chalasani, the chief executive of Amfi said.
The SIP AUM stood at Rs 16,52,665.35 crore for the month November which is 20.5% of the total industry AUM, despite a marginal fall in SIP contribution to Rs 29,445.28 crore across 9,42,51,845 crore SIP accounts.
“The industry crossed the Rs 80 trillion-mark in November, reflecting steady investor confidence. SIP assets rose to Rs 16.53 trillion, now contributing over a fifth of the industry AUM, indicating that investors remain committed to disciplined, long-term investing,” Chalasani said.
Equity-oriented schemes continued to drive growth, supported by sustained inflows. Hybrid and passive funds also saw healthy traction, with multi-asset and arbitrage funds together accounting for over 70% of hybrid category flows, he said.
Large-cap funds staged a sharp recovery, getting Rs 1,640 crore, up 68.7% from October’s Rs 972 crore. Large & mid-cap funds also saw a strong month with Rs 4,503 crore, rising 41.7% on-month, while mid-cap funds saw inflows increase 17.9% to Rs 4,487 crore. Small-cap funds collected Rs 4,407 crore, improving 26.8% from October.
In contrast, ELSS funds and dividend yield funds saw net outflows of Rs 570 crore and Rs 278 crore, respectively.
According to Aditya Agrawal, chief investment officer at Avisa Wealth Creators, net inflows of Rs 29,911 crore into equity fund marks a rebound after three straight months of declines. However, inflows remain about 17% lower on-year, well below the 2025 peak of Rs 42,702 crore recorded in July.
“While the on-month uptick in inflows indicates strengthening investor sentiment towards equity markets, sustaining this momentum remains crucial. SIP contributions held firm at Rs 29,445 crore in, down 0.3% on-month but a strong 21.7% on-year increase. The near-record flows underscore steady retail participation and robust confidence in long-term wealth creation through disciplined investing,” said.
Himanshu Srivastava, a principal research at Morningstar Investment India said the revival of investor interest in equity-oriented funds reflecting sustained investor confidence amid a supportive macro-environment, resilient corporate earnings, and improving clarity around the global interest-rate trajectory.
November also reversed a four-month declining trend in net inflows into the equity-oriented category. Strong domestic economic momentum, a healthy and stable SIP book, and broad-based gains across the equity markets further reinforced retail investor sentiment.
Flexi-cap funds remained the single largest beneficiary of flows—they continued to receive the highest inflows, driven by their versatile mandate and the comfort of dynamic market-cap allocation, though November saw a marginal moderation compared with October, he said.
Meanwhile, value/contra and focused funds saw a notable pick-up in flows, indicating a partial style rotation toward valuation-driven ideas and high-conviction strategies in a market characterised by widening dispersion across stocks and sectors.
Sectoral and thematic funds garnered decent reported inflows of Rs 1,865 crore, but this headline number was largely influenced by the launch of four new thematic schemes, which together mobilized Rs 1,982 crore. Excluding these NFO-driven inflows, the segment would have actually witnessed net outflows, reflecting some cooling of momentum in existing thematic strategies.
“Overall, the month’s flows underscore a constructive risk appetite, supported by deep domestic liquidity, strong and sticky retail SIP participation, and optimism about India’s medium-term economic and corporate earnings outlook,” he said.
Similarly, debt-oriented funds also saw a significant shift in investor sentiment, with a total outflow of Rs 25,694 crore, a stark contrast to the Rs 1,59,958 crore inflows in October. Liquid funds led the outflows with Rs 14,051 crore, followed by overnight funds at Rs 37,625 crore.
Money market funds, however, saw a moderate inflow of Rs 11,104 crore, while ultra-short-duration funds saw Rs 8,361 crore; corporate bond funds and short-duration funds also saw inflows at Rs 1,525 crore and Rs 2,106 crore, respectively.
Meanwhile, gold ETFs saw a significant slowdown in inflows, netting only Rs 3,742 crore in November, compared to Rs 7,743 crore in October and Rs 8,363 crore in September, marking a steady decline in investor interest in gold ETFs as investors booked profits after the recent rally in global gold prices.
On the decline in gold ETF, Nehal Meshram, senior analyst at Morningstar Investment India, said “although moderating from the unusually strong surge seen in September and October, the latest figure still reflects sustained demand for gold-backed products in a market environment marked by elevated macro uncertainty and intermittent risk-off sentiment.”
Small-cap funds recorded a net inflow of Rs 4,406.90 crore, while the net inflows stood at Rs 3,476.04 crore in October.