Mutual funds see Rs 16,600-crore outflow in June

New Delhi: Investors pulled out nearly Rs 16,600 crore from various mutual fund schemes in June, making it the second consecutive monthly outflow, primarily due to huge redemption from income and liquid segments.

In comparison, mutual funds saw an outflow of close to Rs 41,000 crore in May. Prior to that, Rs 1.51 lakh crore were invested in April.

Bajaj Capital Chief Executive Rahul Parikh said mutual funds are shifting focus from income and money market or liquid funds to equities, equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) and equity-oriented balanced funds.

"This shift can be attributed to the low yields on money market and fixed income investments at present," he added.

According to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), a net sum of Rs 16,592 crore was pulled out from mutual fund schemes in June.

After taking into consideration the latest outflow, total investment in mutual fund schemes stood at Rs 93,400 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Individually, income funds that provide returns either on a monthly or quarterly basis as opposed to capital appreciation registered an outflow of Rs 20,685 crore last month.

Such funds usually hold a variety of government, municipal and corporate debt obligations, preferred stock and dividend-paying stocks.

Besides, liquid funds -- with investments in cash assets such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial paper for a shorter horizon -- logged an outflow of Rs 12,739 crore.

However, equity and equity-linked saving scheme (ELSS) saw an infusion of Rs 8,164 crore.

Overall, the assets under management (AUM) of the country's 42 fund houses slipped to Rs 18.96 lakh crore at the end of June, from Rs 19.04 lakh crore at May-end.

Mutual funds are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors. The funds are invested in stocks, bonds and money market instruments, among others.