The assets under management of the mutual fund industry increased four per cent last month to Rs 24.78 lakh crore against Rs 23.79 lakh crore logged in March, due largely to inflows into liquid and ultra-short duration funds.

Liquid funds saw an inflow of Rs 89,778 crore, while inflows into ultra-short duration funds was Rs 11,000 crore, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India here on Thursday.

Inflows into equity schemes was down 60 per cent at Rs 4,609 crore, from Rs 11,576 crore logged in March, due to sharp volatility in the market and a series of corporate rating downgrades.

The Equity AUM was down 12 per cent at Rs 7.37 lakh crore from Rs 8.40 lakh crore in March. Inflows into equity linked savings schemes was down to Rs 458 crore from Rs 2,742 crore, leading to a sharp drop in equity assets.

N.S. Venkatesh, Chief Executive Officer, AMFI, said some of the AUM data announced for April cannot be compared with that of March as it had regrouped and reclassified certain schemes to report data in line with the new format prescribed by SEBI.

Retail AUM increased marginally by two per cent to Rs 10.90 lakh crore from Rs 10.72 lakh crore logged in March. Inflows through systematic investment plans was up two per cent at Rs 8,238 crore (Rs 8,055 crore) with the addition of 3.62 lakh folios.

Venkatesh said mutual funds had done better to attract retail investment in equity despite uncertainty clouding the markets.

“Steady growth in equity SIPs and continued net inflows into equity schemes is reflective of the overall retail and institutional investor confidence in the India growth story,” he said.

Fixed maturity plans, which have been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, witnessed an outflow of Rs 17,600 crore. Mutual funds have forced FMP investors to either extend their maturity period or wait endlessly for returns.

The open-ended credit risk fund, which has been reeling under a spate of downgrades in instruments they have invested in, registered an outflow of Rs 1,253 crore.

Attributing the outflows in these schemes to the nervousness in markets owing to rating downgrades and defaults, Venkatesh said investors were now maintaining a wait-and-watch, with the prevailing global trade war and the uncertainty over outcome of general elections.

Investors will return once corporate earnings improve and the new government takes charge at the Centre, he said.

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