Investment In Smallcap Funds Outpaces Midcap, Largecap Funds Witness Drop: Amfi Data

The net equity mutual fund inflow for March dropped by 14.4 per cent over a month ago to Rs 25,082.01 crore, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfi). Even though the net inflows into open-ended equity funds fell, they managed to stay in positive for the 49th consecutive month. Earlier, inflow into equity mutual funds had plunged by 26 per cent in February from a month ago.

The slump in the inflow came even as March saw a recovery in the market. Benchmark indices – Sensex and Nifty – jumped 5.77 per cent and 6.30 per cent, respectively, snapping their 5-month losing streak.

The overall mutual fund industry saw a net outflow of Rs 1.64 lakh crore during the month as volatility marred investor sentiment. In February, the industry saw a net inflow of Rs 40,063 crore. The industry's total asset under management (AUM) stood at Rs 65.7 lakh crore as against Rs 64.5 lakh crore in the preceding month.

A total of 30 schemes were launched in the month of March 2025 all open-ended and across categories, raising a total of Rs 4,085 crore.

Smallcap Fund Inflows Outpace Midcap, Largecap

Data showed that net inflows into the smallcap fund category increased 9.93 per cent Rs 4,092.12 crore, while inflows into the midcap funds remained nearly flat, rising just 0.93 per cent to Rs 3,438.87 crore. On the other hand, inflows into large-cap funds dipped by 13.5 per cent to Rs 2,479.31 crore.

Among equity categories, flexi cap funds saw the highest inflows during the month - Rs 5,615 crore. In February, the inflows into flexi cap funds were Rs 5,104.22 crore.

Inflows into the Sectoral/Thematic funds, which was the highest in February (Rs 5,711.58 crore) among equity categories, crashed sharply to Rs 170.09 crore in March.

Hybrid schemes saw an outflow of Rs 946.56 crore during the month as against an inflow of Rs 6,803.85 crore in the previous month.

Jatinder Pal Singh, CEO, ITI Mutual Fund, said, "Continued incremental inflows were mainly seen Flexi Cap , Small cap and Multi Cap, which is a positive sign, indicating a long-term investment approach by investors despite global and macroeconomic concerns.”

Gold ETFs See Net Outflows On Profit-Booking

Gold, typically considered a safe haven during uncertain times, witnessed an outflow. Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) saw an outflow of Rs 77.21 crore as against net inflow of Rs 1,979.84 crore in the previous month. This could be attributed to soaring gold prices, prompting investors to book profits.

Gold prices were upbeat, rising over 7 per cent in March, amid the immense uncertainty around Trump's tariff plans as investors flocked to the safe-haven metal.

Inflows Via SIP At Four-Month Low

Monthly inflows into mutual funds through the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) dropped slightly to Rs 25,925.63 crore in March, marking the lowest level in the past four months.

Number of new SIPs registered in March 2025 stood at 40,18,564 and the number of contributing SIP accounts stood at 8.11 crore. For the month of March, the SIP AUM stood at Rs 13,35,188.07 crore.

Rising Retail Participation in MFs

As of March 2025, the total number of Mutual Fund folios has reached 23,45,08,071. A folio is essentially an account that tracks the investments in a mutual fund.

The retail mutual fund folios, including within equity, hybrid and solution-oriented schemes, stood at 18,58,24,290 for the month. This is an increase from 18,42,02,267 folios in February 2025, showing steady growth in investor participation.

Retail mutual fund AUM in equity, hybrid, and solution-oriented schemes, has hit Rs 38,83,966 crore in March, a 6.58 per cent growth from the previous month's Rs 36,44,112 crore.