Investors Pivot To Flexi-Cap Funds Amid Market Volatility In March

Actively managed equity mutual funds recorded a Rs 25,082.01 crore inflow during March, lower by 14.4%, compared to the inflow of Rs 29,303.3 crore recorded in February, as per the monthly data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India. Active equity AUM rose about 7.5% during the month, compared to the 7% dip February.

The industry net outflow of the mutual fund industry was at Rs 1.64 lakh crore, against an inflow of Rs 40,063.3 crore the previous month. The net AUM of the industry was at Rs 65.74 lakh crore against Rs 64.53 lakh crore last month.

Large-cap funds recorded an inflow of Rs 2,479.31 crore, against Rs 2,866 crore in February. The mid-cap category saw an inflow of Rs 3,438.87 crore, while the net flows into the category in the preceding month were Rs 3,406.9 crore.

The small-cap funds recorded a net inflow of Rs 4,092.12 crore, while the net inflows stood at Rs 3,722.46 crore in February.

Flexi-cap funds saw an inflow of Rs 5,615 crore, compared to Rs 5,104.2 crore inflow in the previous month.

Inflows into the sectoral and thematic category slipped to Rs 170.09 crore after recorded inflows into the category had fallen to Rs 5,711.5 crore in the month of February.

The SIP contribution stood 0.28% lower at Rs 25,926 crore in March, compared to Rs 25,999 crore in February 2025. 

The assets under management for SIP stood at Rs 13.35 lakh crore, accounting for 19.2% of industry assets. The AUM of SIPs were at Rs 12.38 lakh crore in the previous month.

Debt funds recorded an outflow of 2.02 lakh crore in the month of March, against an outflow of Rs 6,525.5 crore in March.

Overnight funds recorded an outflow of Rs 30,015.8 crore against Rs 2,263.9 crore last month. Liquid funds recorded an inflow of Rs 1.33 lakh crore, compared to Rs 4,976.97 crore in February.

Hybrid schemes saw outflows worth Rs 946.56 crore, against Rs 6,803.8 crore inflows recorded in the preceding month. The highest inflows in the category was Multi Asset Allocation Funds, with inflow of Rs 1,670.34 crore. In February, arbitrage funds had seen the highest inflow.

In the passive fund category, inflows worth Rs 14,148.60 crore were recorded in February, compared to Rs 10,248.96 crore in February. The category that saw the most inflow was Other ETFs.

Inflows from new fund offers accounted for inflow of Rs 4,085 crore this month, with four out of 30 active equity fund launches. The inflows accounted by NFOs stood at Rs 3,957 crore in the previous month.

11 NFOs in the Index Funds category saw the most number of NFO launches in March.