MUMBAI: A healthy 4 percent rise in inflows to popular SIPs, along with a massive 282 percent jump in gold ETF inflows, cushioned a 9 percent drop in equity fund investments. This helped the assets managed by the 47-member mutual fund industry stay on a growth trajectory for the 55th consecutive month. Total assets rose 0.57 percent to Rs 75.35 trillion in September, up from Rs 74.93 trillion in August.
However, from an absolute numbers perspective for the first time the industry saw an outflow of Rs 43,146 crore in September, compared to an inflow of Rs 52,443 crore in August, marking a month-on-month fall in net flows.
This is the first time since April this year that total flow has turned negative. With the market remaining in jittery, inflows into equity funds declined for the second consecutive month, declining 9 percent in September to Rs 30,422 crore from Rs 33,430 crore in August, while gold ETF inflows soared 282 percent to Rs 8,363.13 crore—the highest on record-- from Rs 2,189.51 crore in August, despite soaring gold prices and the inflows into SIP rose 4 percent to Rs 29,361 crore, it highest ever, from Rs 28,265 crore in August, the industry lobby Association of Mutual Funds (Amfi) said on Friday.
Amfi chief executive Venkat Chalasani told reporters that this record rise has the SIP AUM jumping to Rs 15.52 trillion in September, or 20.2% of the total industry assets and the number of contributing SIP accounts stood at 9.25 crore in September.
On the record show by gold ETFs, Kartik Jain, chief executive of Shriram AMC said, “a standout trend is the growing appetite for precious metals. Gold ETFs recorded a remarkable incremental addition of about Rs 8,500 crore, taking total AUM past the Rs 90,000-crore mark. Silver ETFs, too, attracted significant attention from new investors, highlighting a diversification shift towards metals.
This momentum is mirrored in multi-asset allocation funds, which saw nearly Rs 5,000 crore inflows, largely driven by gold and silver allocations.”Chalasani said total fund folios rose to 25.19 crore with 30.14 lakh folios being added during the month. Up from 24.89 crore in the previous month. Of this, retail folios were 19.80 crore for the month as against in 19.64 crore in August. Retail AUM stood at Rs 44.61 trillion.
This is the 55th consecutive month of positive equity inflows, starting from March 2021, Chalasani added. Nine new schemes were launched in the month all open-ended and across categories, raising a total of Rs 1,959 crore.
“The mutual fund industry maintained its growth momentum in September, with total assets rising to Rs 75.61 trillion despite temporary outflows linked to advance tax payments. Equity funds witnessed positive inflows for the 55th consecutive month, reflecting investors’ confidence in equities as a long-term asset class.
“SIPs reached a new milestone with record monthly contribution of Rs 29,361 crore and 9.25 crore active accounts, reaffirming retail investors’ growing preference for disciplined and systematic investing,” Chalasani said. From a segmented point of view, midcap funds received the highest inflow of Rs 5,085 crore, followed by smallcap funds, which received an inflow of Rs 4,362 crore.
Among the 16 sub-categories, only overnight funds, medium to long duration funds, long duration funds, and dynamic bond funds received inflows. Overnight funds received the highest inflow of Rs 4,279 crore and liquid funds saw the highest outflow of Rs 66,042 crore in September.
Sectoral and thematic funds received the lowest positive inflow of Rs 1,220 crore. ELSS funds and dividend yield funds saw an outflow of Rs 307 crore and Rs 167 crore, respectively. Debt mutual funds saw a total outflow of Rs 1.01 trillion as against an outflow of Rs 7,979 crore in August.
Among six sub-categories, multi asset allocation funds got the highest inflow of Rs 4,982 crore, while conservative hybrid funds and arbitrage funds saw outflows. The inflow in hybrid funds declined by 39 percent to Rs 9,397 crore compared to an inflow of Rs 5,293 crore in August.
The other schemes, which include index funds and ETFs, saw a surge in monthly inflows by 67 percent to Rs 19,056 crore from Rs 11,436 crore. The open-ended funds saw an outflow of Rs 42,815 crore compared to an inflow of Rs 52,501 crore.
Flexi-cap funds topped the list with Rs 7,029 crore, followed by mid-cap funds at Rs 5,085 crore and small-cap funds at Rs 4,363 crore, showing continued retail appetite for growth-oriented schemes. Large- and mid-cap funds attracted Rs 3,805 crore, while multi-cap funds added Rs 3,560 crore, highlighting investor preference for balanced exposure across market caps.
Large-cap funds drew Rs 2,319 crore, reflecting a tilt toward stability amid volatile markets. In contrast, sectoral/thematic funds saw inflows cool sharply to Rs 1,221 crore from Rs 3,893 crore in August. Value/contra funds continued to gain traction with Rs 2,108 crore. Debt funds turned sharply negative, with Rs 1.02 trillion in outflows the highest since April 2024. In contrast, August saw modest outflows of Rs 7,979 crore, while July had massive inflows of Rs 1.07 trillion.
The debt segment remains highly sensitive to rate cycle shifts and liquidity conditions. Liquid funds recorded the steepest withdrawal of Rs 66,042 crore, followed by money market funds at Rs 17,900 crore, as institutional investors pulled out capital for quarter-end requirements.
Other short-term categories such as ultra-short-duration funds (Rs 13,606 crore) and short-duration funds (Rs 2,173 crore) also witnessed strong redemptions. Corporate bond funds and low-duration funds posted outflows of Rs 1,444 crore and Rs 1,253 crore, respectively.
In contrast, longer-tenure funds such as long-duration and medium-to-long-duration funds saw modest inflows of Rs 61 crore and Rs 103 crore, respectively, while dynamic bond funds gained Rs 519 crore. Hybrid schemes saw moderate inflows of Rs 9,397 crore, lower than August’s Rs 15,293 crore but continuing their positive run for the sixth consecutive month.
The ‘Others’ category, which includes ETFs and index funds, also saw robust inflows of Rs 19,057 crore, reflecting growing investor preference for passive products. Solution-oriented funds reported modest inflows of Rs 286 crore, while closed-ended schemes continued to see outflows of Rs 311 crore.
