The flow of funds into the open-ended equity funds jumped 23 per cent to Rs 26,865.78 crore in February, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) said on Friday.

The AMFI, the industry trade body for mutual funds, said the Smallcap and midcap funds saw robust inflows in February even after Sebi raised concerns over froth in the segments.

Inflows into midcap funds dipped 12 per cent but remained healthy at Rs 1,808 crore, while net investments into smallcap funds dipped 10 per cent but came in at Rs 2,922 crore last month, it added.

Further, among the equity asset class, the Sectoral/Thematic Funds category saw the highest inflows to the tune of Rs 11,262.70 crore.

The growth was aided by the launch of five new schemes during the month like Groww Banking & Financial Services Fund; quant PSU Fund; SBI Energy Opportunities Fund; WhiteOak Capital Banking & Financial Services Fund; WhiteOak Capital Pharma and Healthcare Fund, which cumulatively garnered Rs 7,178 crore during their NFO period.

The largecap category saw its third highest flows in 20 months with net inflows of Rs 921 crore in February 2024.

Net inflows were positive; it also saw the second-highest gross redemption among the equity categories during the month.

The data further said the fixed income segment; debt funds saw net inflows of Rs 63,809 crore in February against Rs 76,469 crore net investments in January.

Inflows in debt funds were positive largely thanks to Rs 83,642 crore investments into the short-term Liquid Fund category.

This was followed by Rs 3,029 crore inflows into the Corporate Bond Category.

Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive, AMFI said, “There is a surge in SIP accounts, totalling 8.20 crore with 49.79 lakh new SIP registrations. This underscores investors’ unwavering commitment to disciplined wealth accumulation. The industry’s net AUM has also reached Rs 54,54,214.13 crore in February.”

Inflows to equity funds have remained in the positive zone for the 36th straight month since March 2021.

Notably, investments via systematic investment plans (SIPs) hit a fresh record high of Rs 19,186 crore last month against Rs 18,838 crore in January.