Mumbai, Nov. 11 -- Investment in equity mutual funds fell nearly 14 per cent to Rs 32,994 crore in October, down from Rs 38,306 crore in September, industry body Amfi said on Wednesday.

This is the 60th consecutive month of net inflows into the equity category and the overall assets under management across equity schemes stood at Rs 37.14 lakh crore as on October 30, it said, adding that the market corrections led to a decline in the number when compared with September's Rs 37.54 lakh crore.

Equity inflows had jumped by over 31 per cent in September as compared to the preceding August despite the market volatility, as per the data which Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfi) had released a month ago.

The industry's overall AUM across all categories rose to Rs 83.38 lakh crore at the end of October from the 82.64 lakh crore in September, with the debt-oriented schemes showing the sharpest surge as the quarter-end withdrawals for tax payments and other reasons came back.

The month also saw a marginal decline in the amount of money flowing in from the retail investors' favourite systematic investment plans (SIPs) to Rs 32,160 crore from September's Rs 32,490 crore.

The number of contributing SIP accounts declined to 10 crore in October from the 10.06 crore in September.

The body's chief executive Venkat Chalasani said that the market volatilities may have had an impact on the flows, but added that factors like re-rating of Indian equities by foreign brokerages and decline in oil prices bode well.

Other factors like strong corporate earnings and high credit growth by banks are also positive from a future perspective as they indicate the strength in underlying economic activity, he said.

HDFC AMC's managing director and chief executive Navneet Munot recalled that monthly SIP contributions were just Rs 3,000 crore a decade ago and added that the number staying above Rs 30,000 crore remains one of the most significant indicators of India's investment journey, representing a structural shift in household financial behaviour.

Replying to a question on where does the body see the SIP flows ahead, Chalasani said that despite the volatilities, the investmnets have surged by 10 per cent in October when compared with the over Rs 29,000 crore in the same period last year.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.