Equity mutual fund inflows fell 14.4 percent to Rs 25,082 crore in March 2025 against Rs 29,303 crore in the previous month, according to the latest AMFI data.
With this, net inflows into equity mutual funds have remained in the positive zone for the 49th straight month.
Total equity assets under management (AUM) for the mutual fund industry, however, saw an increase of 7.6 percent to Rs 29.5 lakh crore in March 2025 from Rs 27.4 lakh crore in February 2025.
Total AUM of the industry also grew to Rs 65.74 lakh crore in March 2025 from Rs 64.53 lakh crore in the previous month, data showed.
SIP inflows fell marginally to Rs 25,926 crore during the month against Rs 25,999 crore received in February 2025. This was the fourth consecutive month of decline in SIP inflows. This reflects weak market sentiments triggered by a host of reasons like US tariffs on major economies, inflation concerns and ongoing geopolitical tensions in certain parts of the world.
Also read: SIP inflows decline to four month low in March: AMFI
Largecap fund inflows stood at Rs 2,479 crore for the month under review against Rs 2,866 crore in February 2025, registering a fall of 13.5% month-on-month.
Midcap fund inflows, however, rose marginally to Rs 3,439 crore for the month against Rs 3,406 crore in February 2025, according to AMFI.
In a positive sign, smallcap fund inflows rose to Rs 4,092 crore from Rs 3,722 crore – a 10 percent rise month-on-month.
Surprisingly, liquid funds saw a massive outflow of Rs 1.33 lakh crore in March 2024. In the previous month, it was inflows worth Rs 4,977 crore.
Liquid funds, a type of debt mutual fund, invest in short-term debt instruments, like treasury bills and commercial papers, with maturities of up to 91 days, offering high liquidity and relatively low risk.
On account of liquid fund outflows, debt mutual fund outflows swelled to Rs 2.02 lakh crore in March. In the previous month, debt mutual funds witnessed inflows worth Rs 6,525 crore.
Suranjana Borthakhur, Head of Distribution & Strategic Alliances, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), said, “Despite the market volatility, the overall flows into equity funds remain relatively resilient, indicating that investors are not making panic-driven decisions. The overall flows are impacted because of large outflows of debt, which is traditionally seen in year-end cycles.”
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On smallcap fund inflows, Borthakhur said that this continued inflow into small-cap funds is encouraging and it seems that investors are keeping a long-term time horizon in mind and not getting swayed away by recent experience only.
The Indian mutual fund industry witnessed an outflow of Rs 1.64 lakh crore in March, weighed down by concerns around tariffs, inflation and economic growth. In the previous month, there was an inflow of Rs 40,000 crore.