India, April 15 -- The stock markets were down in March 2026 due to the Iran war. Between the end of February and end of March, the Sensex lost 9,000 points, or more than 11 per cent, before it recovered almost 5,000 points in April. Yet, according to data, equity mutual funds attracted massive net inflows of more than INR 40,000 crore in March, a sharp jump from around INR 26,000 crore in February, which too saw the index down by 1,000 points or so. In retrospect, one can cite several reasons for this seemingly-unreasonable behaviour but it still belies reason.

If this was not enough, look at what happened to SIPs, or systematic investment plans that can entail a regular monthly investment of INR 500 in mutual funds. According to the fi...