Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai: Resilient investors continued putting money in the stock and debt markets through Feb despite market volatility. Combined with some mark-to-market gains, the total assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund (MF) industry hit a new all-time high at over Rs 82 lakh crore. During the month, gross flows through systematic investment plans (SIPs), showed a 3.7.% dip but top industry players said that was because Feb had at least three less days for flows to come in than in any other month. This, according to some industry estimates, may perk up the March numbers.
Despite sharp slide in the markets in the first 10 days of March, industry players are confident about the evolving nature of retail investors who have matured over time to not panic due to market volatilities and are also patient with long term wealth creation as the prime objective. Feb saw a marked dip in inflows in gold and silver ETFs, after they witnessed sharp price corrections in end-Jan and early-Feb.
