Equity mutual funds in India experienced a marked recovery in November, with net inflows rising 21.2% month-on-month to Rs29,911 crore, up from Rs24,690 crore in October, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. Despite this improvement, year-on-year inflows fell 17% compared to Rs35,943 crore a year earlier.

 

Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) contributions remained largely stable at Rs29,445 crore, marginally below the prior month’s all-time high of Rs29,529 crore. Fund managers attributed the inflows uptick to strong equity market performance, citing renewed investor confidence after a prolonged period of muted earnings and sideways market movement.

 

Large-cap funds led the charge with Rs1,640 crore in inflows, a 68.7% increase from October. Larger and mid-cap funds together attracted Rs4,503 crore, up 41.7% month-on-month. Mid-cap funds saw inflows rise 17.9% to Rs4,487 crore, while small-cap funds posted a 26.8% increase, collecting Rs4,407 crore. Flexi-cap funds recorded the highest inflows among equity categories at Rs8,135 crore. Conversely, equity-linked saving schemes and dividend yield funds registered outflows of Rs570 crore and Rs278 crore, respectively.

 

Debt-oriented schemes suffered a sharp reversal, with outflows of Rs25,694 crore in November compared to inflows of Rs1,59,958 crore in October. This was largely driven by liquidity-sensitive categories, including liquid funds, which saw outflows of Rs14,051 crore, and overnight funds, which exited Rs37,625 crore.

 

Fixed income fund managers interpret the overall flow patterns as indicative of portfolio rebalancing rather than fresh deployment, with investor preference shifting from very short-dated instruments to longer-dated carry-oriented categories. Meanwhile, money market funds and ultra-short duration funds reported inflows of Rs11,104 crore and Rs8,361 crore, respectively. Corporate bond funds and short-duration funds also attracted fresh capital.

 

Gold exchange-traded funds maintained steady interest, recording net inflows of Rs3,742 crore in November, marking their seventh consecutive month of positive flows.