Equity MFs see first outflow in 2 years in March at Rs 1,370 crore

New Delhi: Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 1,370 crore in March, making it the first pull out in two years amid profit booking.

Fund mangers invested Rs 74,024 in the equity mutual funds (MFs) in the entire past fiscal ended March 31.

According to data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), equity and equity-linked saving schemes saw a net withdrawal of funds to the tune of Rs 1,370 crore.

This was the first outflow since March 2014, when equity mutual funds had witnessed a pull out of Rs 1,935 crore.

Prior to the latest outflow, equity MFs have seen a slowdown in the inflows.

Equity schemes received funds worth Rs 2,522 crore in February, lower than Rs 2,914 crore in January and Rs 3,644 crore in December.

However, in 2015, equity MFs saw an average monthly inflow of Rs 7,550 crore.

"Immediate rally post the Budget provided some positive returns in the market and some investors treated this as an opportunity to withdraw funds," said Anjaneya Gautam Senior VP and National Head Mutual Funds Bajaj Capital.

However, considering the announcements in the Budget, investors should stay invested now and reap benefits from long term policies proposed rather than existing, he added.

Echoing similar views, Wealthforce.Com Founder Siddhant Jain said April "seems good as it is the start of a new financial year and a lot of retail investors start their SIPs with a new financial year. We expect good inflows into MFs leading to them to putting money into the market."

Despite huge outflow in March, MFs registered a big net inflow of Rs 74,024 crore in the financial year 2015-16, ended last month. In comparison, fund managers invested a net sum of Rs 71,029 crore in 2014-15.

MFs are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors for the purpose of investing in stocks, bonds, money market instruments and the like.