Focused by inflows into Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), the mutual fund industry’s total Assets Under Management rose to Rs 39.88 lakh crore in September from Rs 36.73 lakh crore in 2021. Monthly, the AUM increased slightly from Rs 39.33 lakh crore in August.

As per the monthly data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) released on Monday, the industry-wide net AUM upraised to Rs 38.42 lakh crore in September. Amfi said the month hit the highest-ever folio addition to 13.81 crores. The retail folios touched an all-time high of 10.99 crores. The contribution of SIPs rose to Rs 12.97 lakh crore from Rs 12.69 lakh crore. The number of SIP books also augmented to 5.84 crores. SIP AUM stood at Rs 6.35 lakh crore with an MoM inflow of Rs 4,501 crore, captivating the total SIP AUM to Rs 6.39 lakh crore for September.

Retail AUMs, including equity, hybrid, and solution-oriented schemes, raised Rs 19.77 lakh crore, while their average AUM stood at Rs 20.24 lakh crore. Amfi CEO N S Venkatesh said SIP numbers look strong, with the highest-ever contribution at Rs 12,976.34 crore a month. The market reacted to inflationary factors and rate hikes. However, he said that small investors had shown reliable faith in mutual fund investments, seeing SIP as wealth accumulation and wealth creation over a longer term.

The markets continued to witness inflows to the tune of Rs 14,099.73 crore, with the growth driven by the flows into sectorial or thematic funds in the reporting month. The mid-cap category and Flexi-cap category saw important inflows during the month. Despite the financial turmoil in the domestic and global markets following rate hikes and the rupee fall, domestic investors invested in the markets, leading to optimistic flows during the month. She said that the positive sentiment is likely driven by investors’ interest in investing in the NFOs launched in the month.