Equity Mutual Funds See Fourth Consecutive Month Of Withdrawals In Oct

Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 2,725 crore in October, making it the fourth consecutive monthly withdrawal, as investors booked profit.

Except for large, mid-cap and sectoral funds, all the equity schemes have seen outflows, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Monday.

However, investors put in over Rs 1.1 lakh crore from debt mutual funds (MFs) last month after pulling out over Rs 51,900 crore in September.

Overall, the MF industry witnessed a net inflow of Rs 98,576 crore across all segments during the period under review, against an outflow of a little over Rs 52,000 crore in September.

The positive inflow from debt funds pushed the asset under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry to record Rs 28.22 lakh crore at the end of October, from Rs 26.86 lakh crore at the end of September.

According to the data, outflow from equity and equity-linked open-ended schemes was at Rs 2,725 crore in October, much higher than the Rs 734 crore outflow seen in September.

The equity schemes had witnessed an outflow of Rs 4,000 crore in August and another Rs 2,480 crore in July, which was their first withdrawal in over four years. Prior to this, such schemes had attracted Rs 240.55 crore in June.

The net outflows in October could be largely attributed to profit-booking by investors on the back of a surge in equity markets.

The outflow comes at a time when benchmark indices are at all-time highs, last seen in January 2020. Since the beginning of this year, investors were moving away from mutual funds and investing directly in equities.