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Passive funds lead net MF inflows in December 2022 quarter

  • 30 Jan , 2023
  • 9:21 AM
  • The mutual fund flow data for December 2022 quarter has been aggregated based on AMFI data.

It shows strong positive inflows across equity and passive funds, but outflows from active debt funds and hybrid funds. This replicates the trend seen in the September 2022 quarter. 

December 2022 marks the fifth consecutive quarter that active debt fund flows have been negative. This is indicative of the pressure of higher bond yields and diminishing attractiveness compared to alternatives. The December 2022 quarter showed a substantial bias in favour of passive funds followed by active equity funds.

As of the close of December 2022 quarter, net AUM of Indian mutual funds stood at Rs39.89 trillion, a gain of 3.81% over the September 2022 quarter. Although the flows into equity funds and passive funds were clearly positive, these gains were largely neutralized by the volatility in the equity market despite persistent FPI buying in the December quarter. 

The equity fund AUM accretion in the December 2022 quarter was triggered by net inflows. Despite the bounce in markets in October and November, the volatility of December put some pressure on equity fund AUM. Here is the story of mutual fund AUM in the December 2022 quarter and how the flows into specific categories of mutual funds panned out.

Debt fund flows in December 2022 quarter?

Flows into Debt Funds in the Dec-22 quarter (AMFI)

Funds MobilizedRedemptionsNet FlowNet AUM as of Dec-22
Rs23.44 trillionRs23.65 trillionRs(0.21) trillionRs12.42 trillion

Indian debt funds saw net redemptions of Rs21,096 crore in the December 2022 quarter, which is much lower than the massive sell-offs seen March 2022 and the June 2022 quarter. The net outflows for December 2022 quarter appeared to stabilize and taper after the rates had been hiked by 225 basis points by the RBI and most of the downside risks were factored into bond prices. 

Let us look at key flow drivers and start with inflows? Only liquid funds saw substantial inflows in the quarter of  Rs39,509 crore. Among smaller inflows in the quarter, money market funds saw inflows of Rs2,030 crore, corporate bond funds Rs1,220 crore, long duration funds Rs559 crore and gilt funds Rs344 crore. Most of the other categories of debt funds saw either flat flows or strong outflows in the quarter.

The December 2022 quarter story of debt fund flows once again veered towards broad-based redemptions. Overnight Funds saw outflows of (Rs40,688 crore), Short Duration funds (Rs5,163 crore), Floater funds (Rs5,004 crore), Banking & PSU funds (Rs4,755 crore), Low Duration Funds (Rs3,148 crore), Medium Duration Funds (Rs2,618 crore) and ultra-short duration Funds (Rs2,290 crore). There were other redemption candidates like medium to long duration funds and credit risk funds, but they were relatively smaller.

Total AUM of all debt funds at the close of the December 2022 quarter stood at Rs12.42 trillion with its overall share of MF AUM lower sequentially at 31.82%. In the last one year, the big story has been the way, the equity fund AUM and the passive fund AUM have grown sizably at the cost of active debt fund AUM.

Equity fund flows in December 2022 quarter

Flows into Equity Funds in the Dec-22 quarter (AMFI)

Funds MobilizedRedemptionsNet FlowNet AUM as of Dec-22
Rs83,583crRs64,631crRs18,952crRs15.25 trillion

After robust inflows of around Rs50,000 crore in each of the last few quarters, December 2022 quarter saw net equity inflows tapering to Rs18,952 crore. This is despite a sharp spike in the SIP flow numbers as well as the number of NFOs raising fresh funds. Unlike in the previous few quarters, several equity fund categories saw net outflows in the December quarter. 

This is despite steady flows from systematic investment plans (SIPs) and from new fund offerings (NFOs). One interesting trend that is visible in the December quarter is the general resistance among people in buying large cap funds as they are scouting for alpha in the mid-cap and small cap space. For the December quarter, large cap funds saw outflows of Rs(892) crore while dividend yield funds and focused funds also saw minor fund outflows.

The positive contributors to equity funds were a lot more affirmative. The search for Alpha has been more pronounced this time. Small cap funds led the quarter with net inflows of Rs5,205 crore, followed by mid-cap funds at Rs4,524 crore. Among other categories seeing positive net flows in the December 2022 quarter were sectoral & thematic funds at Rs3,862 crore, large & mid cap funds Rs2,972 crore, multi-cap plus flexi-cap funds Rs1,741 crore, value funds Rs1,173 crore and ELSS funds Rs696 crore. 

The total AUM of equity funds at the end of the December 2022 quarter stood at Rs15.25 trillion with a decisive market share of 37.81% marking a big shift in the last one year. In the December 2022 quarter 2 trends were visible. Firstly, there was a shift out of active funds into passive funds. Even within active, there was a shift from large index players into small and mid-cap stocks. However, equity funds have maintained the share lead over debt funds and widened the lead further in the December quarter.

Hybrid fund flows in December 2022 quarter

Flows into Hybrid Funds in the Dec-22 quarter (AMFI)

Funds MobilizedRedemptionsNet FlowNet AUM as of Dec-22
Rs34,962crRs42,004crRs(7,042)crRs4.91 trillion

In December 2022 quarter, hybrid fund saw outflows after several quarters of net inflows and this can be largely attributed to selling in arbitrage funds as well as investors getting disillusioned with balanced advantage funds (BAFs). However, the NFOs that were driving record collection by BAFs were conspicuous by their absence. This resulted in the absence of incremental NFO flows into the Balanced Advantage Funds (BAF). 

Let us look at the inflows into hybrid funds first. Only multi-asset allocation funds saw net inflows of Rs1,884 crore in the December 2022 quarter. However, Arbitrage Funds saw net outflows of Rs(5,661) crore in December 2022 quarter, due to treasury considerations. Balanced Advantage Funds (BAFs) also saw outflows to the tune of Rs2,462 crore. Total AUM of all hybrid funds at the end of December 2022 quarter stood at Rs4.91 trillion, even as its AUM share in December 2022 has actually fallen marginally to 12.47%.

Passive fund flows in December 2022 quarter

Flows into Passive Funds in the Dec-22 quarter (AMFI)

Funds MobilizedRedemptionsNet FlowNet AUM as of Dec-22
Rs68,824crRs32,771crRs36,053crRs6.68 trillion

Passive funds had another fantastic December 2022 quarter with net inflow of Rs36,053 crore, almost at par with the robust inflows in the last three quarters. There was traction across passive categories. Index Funds/ETFs saw inflows of Rs20,414 crore and other ETFs Rs15,600 crore. Gold funds saw tepid outflows of Rs321 crore while FOFs saw inflows of Rs359 crore. Passive funds now contribute a whopping 16.36% of total MF AUM. With most of the NFOs being dominated by passive funds, AUM growth is understandable.

To summarize the trend of the quarter, 4 trends emerge.

  • Today, the fund with the largest AUM is not a debt fund but an index ETF that manages around Rs4.97 trillion. Liquid funds AUM is just Rs3.98 trillion.
  • Closed-ended FTPs (largely through NFOs) have seen good traction in the December quarter as savvy investors rush to lock higher yields.
  • There are two trends in equities. Firstly, there is a shift out of active into passive assets. Even in active assets, preference is for small and mid-cap stocks.
  • Finally, it is the alternatives that have now emerged stronger with 30% market share. That is probably the road ahead.
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Dec-22 MF flows flat, but SIPs and NFOs hold the fort

  • 12 Jan , 2023
  • 10:31 AM
  • For December 2022, inflows into active equity funds remained positive, but flows into active debt funds were deeply in the negative.

The redeeming feature of the month was the flows into index funds and ETFs, which actually helped flows. December 2022 repeated the SIP story, touching a record level of Rs13,573 crore in December 2022. Secondly, new fund offerings (NFOs) also gathered steam in December 2022 collecting Rs8,486 crore. 

The NFO flows in December 2022 were largely dominated by bond ETFs, multi-asset allocation funds and closed ended fixed term plans (FTP). Let us quickly turn to the AUM story for December 2022. Assets under management (AUM) is the combination of flows and capital accretion and includes the AUM of equity, debt and hybrids.

Month

Debt AUM 

(Rs trillion)

Equity AUM 

(Rs trillion)

Alternate AUM 

(Rs trillion)

Overall AUM 

(Rs trillion)

Dec-21

14.05

13.34

9.72

37.73

Jan-22

14.13

13.38

9.89

38.01

Feb-22

14.09

12.95

9.91

37.56

Mar-22

12.99

13.65

10.31

37.57

Apr-22

13.56

13.66

10.42

38.04

May-22

13.22

13.32

10.40

37.22

Jun-22

12.34

12.86

10.20

35.64

Jul-22

12.46

14.16

10.88

37.75

Aug-22

13.03

14.78

11.26

39.34

Sep-22

12.42

14.63

11.12

38.42

Oct-22

12.45

15.22

11.58

39.50

Nov-22

12.57

15.58

11.93

40.38

Dec-22

12.42

15.25

11.92

39.89

Data Source AMFI

The overall AUM of the mutual fund industry as of the close of December 2022 stood at Rs39.89 trillion, slightly lower than in November 2022, due to the fall in the index during the month. Here are some key takeaways.

  • The overall AUM has been in a very narrow range for the past one year. Most of the volatility in AUM has come from sharp swings in the equity market indices plus sharp swings in benchmark bond yields. 

     
  • If you compare the AUM of active equity funds and active debt funds, there has been a complete reversal of roles over last 12 months. In December 2021, active debt had an overall AUM of Rs14.05 trillion and active equity had AUM of Rs13.34 trillion. As of December 2022, overall AUM of active debt funds has fallen to Rs12.42 trillion while AUM of active equity is up to Rs15.45 trillion. It is a complete reversal of roles; but this can be largely attributed to market contribution.

     
  • The big takeaway is that the AUM of alternate assets built heft from Rs9.72 trillion to Rs11.92 trillion in last one year. Active fund managers have struggled to beat the index, forcing investors to gravitate towards passive index funds and index ETFs. Alternative fund have come with more granular offerings. Alternative assets include hybrids, passives and allocation funds.

Let us now turn to debt mutual fund flows for the month of December 2022.

Debt fund flows face quarterly treasury pressure in December 2022

In the last one year, debt fund flows have been under pressure and have actually been negative in all the quarters. For the month of December 2022, debt funds saw net outflows of Rs21,947 crore. This is almost a third of the debt outflows seen in September 2022. The reasons for outflows are quite apparent. At the end of each quarter, debt funds witness outflows due to treasury operations of corporates. Companies park in debt funds for short term and they need funds to pay advance taxes. Active debt funds have also faced pressure of flows due to excess hawkishness of the RBI and the US Federal Reserve.

Here is a quick summary of the colour of debt fund flows in December 2022. The funds that saw positive inflows were limited. Ultra-short duration funds saw inflows of Rs1,737 crore while long duration funds saw inflows of Rs324 crore. Clearly, the overall flows in active debt funds were biased towards the sell side as is evident from the large net selling number. Treasury managers have been cautious about longer term debt since longer duration bonds are more vulnerable to rise in bond yields.

We now turn to the larger universe of debt funds that saw outflows in December 2022. Big selling was visible in Liquid funds Rs13,852 crore, Floater Funds Rs2,240 crore, Medium Duration funds Rs1,800 crore, Banking & PSU Funds Rs1,353 crore, Overnight funds Rs1,254 crore, Money Market Funds Rs915 crore, short duration funds Rs783 crore and corporate bond funds Rs713 crore. With bond yields hovering around 7.3%, the pressure on debt funds is quite obvious. The recent RBI MPC minutes also hinted at continued hawkishness.

NFOs, SIPs boosted active equity fund flows in December 2022

Equity fund flows in December 2022 were relatively tepid at Rs7,303 crore. The big thrust to equity flows came from Rs8,486 crore of NFO flows and Rs13,573 crore of SIP flows. Now for the equity fund inflow story! During December 2022, small cap funds led the way with Rs2,245 crore of inflows. Among other key contributors, Mid Cap funds collected Rs1,962 crore and large & mid cap funds saw inflows of Rs1,190 crore. The combination of Multi-cap funds plus flexi-cap funds saw inflows of Rs1,080 crore. Other fund categories that saw meaningful inflows include value funds at Rs648 crore and ELSS funds at Rs564 crore. Investors are betting on alpha and shifting large cap fund allocations to index funds.

There were some equity fund categories with negative flows too. For instance, sectoral funds saw outflows of Rs204 crore and focused funds Rs164 crore. One parameter that tells you the story of equity fund flows very eloquently is folio accretion. Folios are MF investor accounts and give a fairly good idea of retail spread. As of the close of December 2022, equity folios touched an all-time high of 949.39 lakh folios out of total mutual fund folios of 1,411.20 lakhs; or 67.28% share of overall folios. It must be added that passive fund folios have grown to 208.51 lakhs; or a significant 14.8% of the total folios.

Hybrid flows turn around, but passive flows steal the show

Hybrid fund flows turned around to a positive Rs2,255 crore in December 2022; largely because of NFO flows into Baroda BNP multi-asset allocation fund. Even arbitrage funds saw a turnaround to positive flows in the month, after several months of consistent negative flows in arbitrage funds. However, the NFOs of the highly popular Balanced Advantage Funds (BAF) is yet to pick up. Multi asset allocation funds saw inflows of Rs1,711 crore, largely driven by the Baroda BNP NFO. Arbitrage fund saw net inflows of Rs883 crore while the BAFs saw outflows of Rs413 crore.

Passive funds were again the big story of December 2022, witnessing healthy inflows of Rs15,398 crore as investors looked for lower cost alpha. What is more interesting is that the gross flows into passive funds at Rs28,319 crore is inching very close to the gross flows into active equity funds. The passive surge was led by equity & debt index ETFs at Rs8,788 crore followed by index funds at Rs6,737 crore. Passive funds cornered bulk of the NFO flows.

Three key takeaways from the December 2022 MF flows

The story of mutual fund flows in December 2022 can be summed up in 3 key takeaways.

  1. Equity fund flows are not substantially decoupled from the equity market conditions and that is largely thanks to steady SIP flows.

     
  2. The interesting data is that the debt fund with the highest AUM as of December 2022 is bond index ETFs, which stands at Rs4.97 trillion.

     
  3. In equity and in debt, there seems to have been a major shift out of active investing into passive investing. That could be the trend going ahead too.

September 2022 quarter belonged to passive MF flows

  • India Infoline News Service
  • 27 Oct , 2022
  • 12:28 PM
However, debt funds and hybrid funds saw negative flows in the quarter. In the March 2022 and June 2022 quarters, while debt flows were negative, the hybrid fund flows were moderately positive.

However, in the September 2022 quarter, heavy selling in arbitrage funds led to hybrid funds also showing negative flows. September 2022 marks the fourth consecutive quarter that debt fund flows have been negative, reflecting the pressure of higher bond yields and central bank hawkishness. While equity fund flows were positive, the quarter belonged to passive fund flows.

As of the close of September 2022 quarter, net AUM of Indian mutual funds stood at Rs38.42 trillion, a gain of +7.8% over June 2022 quarter. Although flows into equity funds and passive funds were positive in the September quarter, these gains were amplified by the Nifty and Sensex bouncing sharply from lower levels. The equity fund AUM accretion in September quarter was a combination of net inflows and market value accretion.

However, the crux of the September 2022 quarterly flow story was built around passive flows. As active fund managers struggled to beat the market, the amalgam of index returns and low costs became a salivating proposition for investors. Here is the story of mutual fund flows in the September 2022 quarter and how flows into specific categories panned out.

How debt fund flows panned out in September 2022 quarter?

Flows into Debt Funds in the Sep-22 quarter (AMFI)
Funds Mobilized Redemptions Net Flow Net AUM as of Sep-22
Rs25.12 trillion Rs25.23 trillion Rs(0.11) trillion Rs12.42 trillion

September 2022 quarter marked the fourth consecutive quarter of net outflows from active debt funds. The net outflows from debt funds in the quarter at Rs11,278 crore was relatively lower compared to outflows of Rs70,213 crore in June 2022 quarter, Rs118,010 crore in March 2022 quarter and Rs21,610 crore in December 2021 quarter. Let us look at the key inflow components.

Only overnight funds saw substantial positive inflows of Rs36,642 crore while ultra-short duration funds saw positive inflows in the quarter of Rs1,647 crore. Other categories like medium and long duration funds as well as gilt funds saw net inflows in the quarter, but they were not too significant.

The September 2022 quarter story of debt fund flows was again about broad-based redemptions. Liquid Funds saw outflows of (Rs17,567 crore), Banking & PSU Funds (Rs8,415 crore), Floater funds (Rs8,085 crore), Low Duration Funds (Rs5,341 crore), Corporate Bond Funds (Rs4,835 crore) and Money Market Funds (Rs2,665 crore). Other redemption candidates like credit risk funds and 10-year Gilt Funds were relatively smaller in overall size.

Total AUM of all debt funds at the close of the September 2022 quarter stood at Rs12.42 trillion with its overall share of MF AUM lower by 231 basis points compared to June 2022 quarter at 32.32%. In the latest quarter there has been a perceptible fall in the share of debt funds in overall AUM due to the rally in equity markets since July and investors continuing to sell out of debt funds amidst the risk of rising bond yields.

How equity fund flows panned out in September 2022 quarter?

Flows into Equity Funds in the Sep-22 quarter (AMFI)
Funds Mobilized Redemptions Net Flow Net AUM as of Sep-22
Rs86,098cr Rs56,980cr Rs29,118cr Rs14.6 trillion

Net inflows into equity funds in the September 2022 quarter stood at Rs29,118 crore. While September 2022 marked the fourth quarter of net inflows into equity funds, the quantum is much smaller. In earlier quarters, the June 2022 quarter saw net inflows of Rs49,918 crore into equities, Rs50,363 crore in the March quarter and Rs41,912 crore in the December 2021 quarter. Interestingly, not a single category of equity funds witnessed negative flows.

NFOs returned to mutual funds market in the quarter with total NFO collections of Rs17,805 crore in the quarter. These NFO flows were largely dominated by the passive funds and sectoral funds. In addition the consistent flow of SIPs at above Rs12,000 crore per month, kept the equity fund inflows buoyant. September 2022 also marked the fourth consecutive quarter when there was positive flows across all categories of active equity funds.

The positive contributors to equity funds were a lot more affirmative. Flexi-Cap funds + Multi-Cap funds saw positive flows of Rs7,524 crore. In addition, there were positive flows into mid cap funds at Rs4,875 crore, small cap funds Rs4,865 crore, large & mid-cap funds at Rs3,620 crore, sector funds Rs3,367 crore, focused funds Rs1,857 crore, large cap funds Rs1,409 crore and contra funds Rs1,301 crore. In the remaining categories, the flows were still positive but much smaller.

The total AUM of active equity funds at the end of the September 2022 quarter stood at Rs14.86 trillion increasing its share by 202 basis points over June 2022 quarter to 38.10%. The AUM share of equity funds has risen due to a mix of positive flows from SIPs and new fund offerings (NFO) as well as value accretion due to the Nifty and the Sensex moving sharply higher in the quarter, from the lows of June 2022.
 
How hybrid fund flows panned out in September 2022 quarter?
Flows into Hybrid Funds in the Sep-22 quarter (AMFI)
Funds Mobilized Redemptions Net Flow Net AUM as of Sep-22
Rs33,711cr Rs48,147cr Rs(14,436)cr Rs4.82 trillion
In September 2022 quarter, hybrid fund saw net outflows of Rs14,436 crore against net inflows of Rs10,084 crore in the June 2022 quarter. The bulk of the selling happened in the arbitrage funds (classified as hybrid funds), but a treasury product akin to liquid funds. However, net flows into hybrid funds could have been more honourable if NFOs had picked up in the quarter. Normally, the Balanced Advantage Funds (BAF) NFOs are the most sought after in the NFO category and that was missing in action.
In terms of category inflows, Aggressive Hybrid Fund saw net inflows of Rs2,192 crore in the September quarter followed by Balance Advantage Funds (BAF) with inflows of Rs1,930 crore. Conservative hybrid funds and multi asset allocation funds saw smaller inflows while equity savings funds saw net outflows. Arbitrage Funds saw net outflows of Rs18,978 crore in September 2022 quarter, on account of treasury considerations. Total AUM of all hybrid funds at the end of September 2022 quarter stood at Rs4.82 trillion. The share has fallen by 67 bps to 12.54% of total mutual fund AUM as of September 2022.

How passive fund flows panned out in September 2022 quarter?

Flows into Passive Funds in the Sep-22 quarter (AMFI)
Funds Mobilized Redemptions Net Flow Net AUM as of Sep-22
Rs66,885cr Rs23,922cr Rs42,963cr Rs5.99 trillion

Passive funds had another fantastic September 2022 quarter with net inflow of Rs42,963 crore; at par with the robust March and June 2022 quarters. Index Funds/ETFs saw inflows of Rs16,885 crore and other ETFs Rs25,859 crore. Gold funds saw smaller outflows of Rs165 crore while FOFs saw inflows of Rs383 crore. Passive funds now contribute 15.58% of total MF AUM; 96 basis points higher than June 2022 quarter.

Here is the big story from the MF flows data for September 2022 quarter. Investors are thinking beyond traditional active equity and active debt funds. If you add up the hybrid funds, solution oriented funds and the passive funds, these have a combined AUM share of 28.93%. Apart from active equities and active debt, these have emerged as the third big asset class for investors.

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  • 12 January, 2023 |
  • 2:21 PM

For December 2022, inflows into active equity funds remained positive, but flows into active debt funds were deeply in the negative.

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