India equity mutual fund inflows jump to nearly two-year high in Jan

BENGALURU, Feb 8 (Reuters): Inflows into India's equity mutual funds rose to a nearly two-year high in January, led by sustained interest in small-caps, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed on Thursday.

Net equity mutual fund inflows rose 28 per cent sequentially to 217.81 billion rupees ($2.62 billion), the highest since March 2022.

"Strong macroeconomic growth outlook, stable earnings have sustained investor interest in equity mutual funds across all segments," said Venkat Chalasani, chief executive of AMFI.

Small-cap funds recorded the highest investments among equity-oriented schemes for the 16th straight month at 32.57 billion rupees.

Inflows into mid-caps rose 48 per cent month-on-month to 20.61 billion rupees, while large-caps inflows hit a 19-month high in January.

"It is advisable for investors to increase their allocations to large-caps, but money will continue to move to small- and mid-caps ahead of elections on expectations of strong near-term returns," said Aishvarya Dadheech, founder and chief executive of Fident Asset Management.