Equity funds saw fifth-consecutive month of outflows

Investors continued to exit open-ended equity-oriented schemes in November, with outflows accelerating from Rs 2,725 crore in October to ~Rs 12,917 crore, primarily because of profit-booking, as domestic equity markets hit record highs during the month – the benchmark equity indices, S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty 50, advanced ~11% each on-month.

In fact, November marked the first time there were outflows across all open-ended equity categories since April 2019, when the Association of Mutual Funds in India changed its format of dissemination. Large cap funds bled the most within the category, at ~Rs 3,289 crore. Multi-cap funds and value / contra funds were at second and third, with net outflows of Rs 2,842 crore and Rs 1,323 crore, respectively. Dividend yield funds posted the lowest net outflow, at ~Rs 70 crore

Outflows notwithstanding, mark-to-market gains pushed up the open-ended equity fund asset base ~10% on-month to Rs 8.58 lakh crore, marking the first time the category crossed the Rs 8 lakh crore threshold.