Equity investments. Mutual fund equity assets up 4 per cent in April, even as inflows dip

Notwithstanding a volatile market, the top 20 mutual funds recorded a four per cent month-on-month gain in equity investments, including hybrid and other schemes, to Rs 22.14 lakh crore in April.

SBI Mutual Fund and Axis MF topped the table with a 5 per cent gain each in equity assets to Rs 4.78 lakh crore and Rs 1.34 lakh crore, according to the Motilal Oswal ‘Fund Folio’ report.

Nippon MF and HDFC MF’s equity assets increased by 4.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent to Rs 1.71 lakh crore and Rs 2.29 lakh crore. ICICI MF, the second largest fund house, registered a two per cent jump in equity assets at Rs 2.52 lakh crore, aided by a sharp run-up in the markets.

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Nifty valuation grows 4 per cent on month

The increase in equity assets of top fund houses comes on the back of a 4.1 per cent month-on-month rise in Nifty valuation to Rs 18.06 lakh crore in April.

After a weak run in the last four months, Nifty recovered 4.1 per cent month-on-month in April, even as the index was volatile and swung by 776 points, before closing with a gain of 705 points, the report said.

The Nifty has been underperforming both the emerging markets and the world indices in the last four months of this year, amid global macro headwinds such as inflation, interest rates and currency. FIIs remained net buyers for the second straight month at $1.9 billion in April, after recording inflows of $1.8 billion in March, it added.

Retail investors trimmed their equity investments in April, with inflows into mutual fund equity schemes plunging 68 per cent to Rs 6,480 crore, as against Rs 20,534 crore, according to recent data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director - Manager Research, Morningstar India, said despite concerns around growth in the developed markets, equity mutual funds continued to garner net inflows for the 26th month in a row.

Though flows across equity categories have reduced since the turn of the year, none of the categories witnessed net outflows, except the focussed equity category, which saw Rs 131 core erode from its coffers, he added.