Investment in equity MFs drops 41% to Rs 75,00 crore in 2019

New Delhi: Investors pumped in nearly Rs 75,000 crore in equity-oriented mutual fund schemes in 2019, a sharp plunge of 41 per cent from the preceding year, mainly hit by extreme market volatility amid slowing economic growth.

Experts, however, are of the view that equity schemes will attract investor interest this year as the market is expected to perform well.

"While volatility in the market may continue for some more time going forward, we believe investors will want to benefit from this volatility and use it to create and growth their wealth.

As we expect industry inflows to rise, we believe that all categories of mutual funds including equity funds to see a steady rise in flows," said Ashwani Bhatia, MD and CEO at SBI Mutual Fund.

According to data with Association of Mutual funds in India (Amfi) equity and equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) attracted an inflow of Rs 74,870 crore in 2019, much lower than Rs 1.2 lakh crore seen in 2018.

In 2017, such schemes had witnessed an impressive inflow of around Rs 1.33 lakh crore as compared to Rs 51,000 crore in 2016.

Equity schemes have seen a little bit of a slowdown in 2019 as compared to the past few years because of extremely volatile markets, L&T Mutual Fund chief Kailash Kulkarni said.