SIP inflows in January hit new high of Rs 13,856 crore

Despite high volatility in the country’s stock market and global uncertainty, retail investors continued to pour money into equities through the mutual fund route during January.
As a result, monthly inflows into mutual fund schemes through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route scaled a new all-time peak of Rs 13,856 crore, while small-cap funds attracted net inflows of nearly Rs 2,250 crore, the highest among all equity schemes, data released by fund industry trade body Amfi showed.

According to Amfi chief executive N S Venkatesh, the latest industry data shows a positive trend in equity MF flows. Small-cap funds have witnessed inflows, majorly driven by retail investors as their investment is for the long term. “Encouraging SIP numbers indicate retail investors’ trust in mutual funds. We believe that SIP inflow momentum has and will continue to balance out the FII outflows in the market,” Venkatesh said. “(January) showed almost 23 lakh new SIPs being registered, which indicates increasing investor belief in the instrument.”

The Amfi data showed that it was in October last year when monthly SIP flows topped the Rs 13,000-crore mark for the first time and has remained above that figure for the last four months. Since January of last year, total inflow through the SIP route was almost Rs 79,450 crore.