Equity MF inflows rise 19% to Rs 29,329 crore in August; SIPs hit record high

Mumbai: Investors increased their equity mutual fund purchases in August by 19% adding ₹29,329 crore, while collections through systematic investment plan (SIPs) reached an all- time high of ₹32,297 crore.

This marks the 66th month of positive inflows.

The fixed income category saw a reversal in August 2026, recording marginal net outflows of ₹8,711 crore, compared with net inflows of ₹1.87 lakh crore in July.

During August the number of new SIPs added stood at 6.64 million, while the stoppages stood at 5.4 million, taking the SIP stoppage ratio to 81.1%, slightly lower than July’s 81.9%.

Total assets under management (AUM) of the industry rose marginally to ₹87.07 lakh crore higher by 1.5% over July’s 85.75 lakh crore.

Investments into equity mutual funds were led by mid and small cap funds with these categories cornering ₹14,962 crore or 51% of the total net flows compared to ₹13,960 crore or 56% of total net flows in the previous month.
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Besides mid and small caps, flexicap strategies garnered ₹5,059 crore higher than the previous month’s ₹4,709, while multicap funds added ₹3,732 crore compared to Julys ₹3,227 crore.

However, large cap funds saw outflows of ₹1,147 crore compared to ₹1,322 crore in the previous month, as investors reduced their exposure to large cap funds given the low returns in the last couple of years. Thematic funds saw inflows of ₹1,766 crore, lower than the previous months ₹1,328 crores.

Among hybrid strategies, aggressive hybrid funds which invest about 65-80% in equities and 20-35% in fixed income saw investors added ₹1,323 crore compared to ₹1,986 crore in the previous month. Other categories like multi asset allocation funds also added ₹3,671 crore lower than ₹3,753 crore in July, while arbitrage funds added ₹3,789 crore lower than Julys ₹6,502 crore.

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Debt funds saw outflows of ₹8,127 crore compared to inflows of ₹1.88 lakh crore in the previous month.

“The swing was primarily driven by withdrawals from liquidity-oriented categories, particularly Overnight Funds, and appears largely reflective of corporate and institutional treasury movements rather than a broad-based deterioration in investor appetite for fixed income,” says Himanshu Srivastava, principal, Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India

Liquid funds saw inflows of ₹19,934, while money market funds saw inflows of ₹11,735 crore, However overnight funds saw outflows of ₹30,654 crore and short term funds saw outflows of ₹4,259 crore.

Gold ETFs saw inflows of ₹2,597 crore higher than Julys ₹1,559 crore amidst renewed investor and preference for the asset class as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties continued to persist.