New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS): India’s mutual fund industry witnessed the highest ever Rs 23,332 crore SIP inflow in July, which in June was Rs 21,262 crore.

Due to the recent increase in Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) inflow, Assets Under Management (AUM) of the total mutual fund industry reached 64.69 lakh crore in July as against 60.89 lakh crore in June.

According to the AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India) data, Total inflows into equity funds declined by 8.6 per cent to Rs 37,113.4 crore in the last month which was Rs 40,608.19 crore in June, the highest ever recorded equity inflow in mutual funds in India.

This is the 41st consecutive month that inflows into open-ended equity funds have been positive. In July, Sensex surged 3.43 per cent and Nifty railed 3.92 per cent.

Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive of AMFI, said that the growth rate of the industry is positive due to continuous investment in mutual funds by retail investors. At present, mutual funds have become an important part of the financial strategy of retail investors.

Maximum investment is being seen in sectoral and thematic funds. A net investment of Rs 18,386.35 crore came in this category in July.

There was also a net inflow of Rs 1,19,587.60 crore in debt mutual funds in July. In contrast, there was a net outflow of Rs 1,07,357.62 crore in June. There was a net inflow of Rs 70,060.88 crore in the short-term liquid fund category and Rs 28,738.03 crore in money market funds.

FPIs pumped in Rs 54,727 core in equity and debt in the full month of July. According to the NSDL data, FPIs invested Rs 32,364 crore in equity and Rs 22,363 crore in debt in July.

FPI activities are influenced by factors like the performance of the global equity markets, the movement of the dollar index, incremental geopolitical events, and opportunities in the Indian markets considering slightly elevated valuation levels.