Equity mutual funds inflow drops 14% to ₹25,082 crore in March

The significant decline indicates a shift in investor sentiment, with interest moving away from niche sectoral bets towards more diversified and flexible investment strategies. Representative file image.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Inflow of equity mutual funds (MFs) dropped 14% to ₹25,082 crore in March amid continued market volatility.

This was the third consecutive month of decline in inflow in equity funds. The latest fund infusion by investors also marks the 49th consecutive month of net inflows into the segment.

According to data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Friday (April 11, 2025), equity-oriented MFs saw an inflow of ₹25,082 crore in March, way lower than ₹29,303 crore in February, ₹39,688 crore in January, and ₹41,156 crore in December.

Within the equity fund categories, flexi cap funds recorded the highest inflows in March, attracting ₹5,165 crore. However, sectoral/thematic funds, which saw a robust inflow of ₹5,711 crore in February, experienced a sharp drop, drawing in just ₹735 crore in March.

This significant decline indicates a shift in investor sentiment, with interest moving away from niche sectoral bets towards more diversified and flexible investment strategies.

In March, mid-cap and small-cap mutual funds continued to attract significant investor interest, with inflows of ₹3,439 crore and ₹4,092 crore, respectively.

These figures marked a slight increase from February’s inflows of ₹3,406 crore for mid-caps and ₹3,722 crore for small-caps. In contrast, large-cap funds witnessed a decline in inflows, receiving ₹2,479 crore in March compared to ₹2,866 crore in February.

On the other hand, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) saw an outflow of ₹77 crore last month after witnessing a fund infusion of ₹1,980 crore by investors in February.

Besides, debt funds registered an outflow of ₹2.02 lakh crore in March as compared to ₹6,525 crore in February.

Overall, mutual funds experienced an outflow of ₹1.64 lakh crore during the month under review as compared to an inflow of ₹40,000 crore in February.

Despite the outflow, assets under management of the industry slightly increased to ₹65.7 lakh crore in March-end from ₹64.53 lakh crore in the preceding month.