September turned out to be a good month for mutual funds and even as the total assets under management of the Indian mutual fund industry registered a minor dip, there were quite a few record highs registered during the month.
Data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the umbrella body of the mutual funds industry, showed that the cumulative AUM was pegged at nearly Rs 46.58 lakh crore as on September 30, slightly lower than Rs 46.64 lakh crore as on August 31.
That apart, many new records were set in September.
The total number of mutual fund Folios touched an all-time high of 157,096,187 in the month of September, higher than the previous month’s 154,241,577 .
Further, the cumulative number of retail folios in equity, hybrid, and solution-oriented schemes also touched an all-time high of 125,451,947 in September. It was pegged at 123,007,367 in August.
The total monthly contribution through the hugely-popular systematic investment plans or SIPs stood at an all-time high of ₹16,042.06 crore in September – the first instance of the monthly SIP net flows breaching the Rs 16,000-crore mark.
Meanwhile, the number of SIP accounts also stood at the highest-ever at nearly 7.13 crore in September, compared to 6.97 crore in August. Similarly, the number of new SIPs registered in September was also the highest-ever monthly at a little over 3.67 million.
“Mutual fund industry’s growth has been on an upward trend. The half yearly growth has been encouraging and we are optimistic that the trend will continue to grow,” said N.S. Venkatesh, CEO, AMFI.
“Irrespective of the global headwinds, Indian markets have shown resilience. The mutual fund industry crossing the 40 million unique investors mark is a testament to Indian retail investors’ participation in equity markets through the mutual fund route,” he added.
Incidentally, even as the AUM dipped a bit in September, the average AUM was higher in September at Rs 47.79 lakh crore, higher than August’s Rs 46.94 lakh crore.
“The mutual fund industry in India maintains a positive overall outlook, supported by its commitment to investor education and safeguarding investor interests. This dedication has strengthened confidence within the investor community,” said Venkatesh.
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