MUMBAI: Despite extreme volatility in stock and debt markets in March, retail investors continued to keep faith in disciplined investing and poured in record sums through SIPs of mutual fund (MF) houses. During the month, gross inflows through the SIP route stood at an all-time high of Rs 32,087 crore, data by AMFI, the industry trade body showed. According to Navneet Munot, MD & CEO, HDFC MF, despite heightened volatility driven by geopolitical developments, domestic investors remained steadfast and continued to invest with conviction. “This structural shift towards systematic investing augurs well for the long-term stability and depth of India’s capital markets.” Some industry veterans pointed out that this Rs 32k crore monthly inflow number could be an outlier since Feb had lesser number of days for investors’ SIP mandates to go to the funds that, in turn, had spilled over to March, boosting the monthly figure. Another interesting aspect of the month’s data was the net inflows through equity funds, in which mostly retail and individual investors put their long-term money. Despite extreme volatility, net inflow was at Rs 40,450 crore, one of the highest in recent months. With both the stocks and debt markets witnessing selling during March mainly due to the war in West Asia, combined with year-end withdrawals by corporates from debt schemes, the MF industry’s total assets under management slid by about Rs 8.3 lakh crore to Rs 73.7 lakh crore.
