New Delhi: Equity mutual funds attracted a net sum of Rs 19,705 crore in February, making it the 12th consecutive monthly net inflow, amid a highly volatile stock market environment due to the current geopolitical situation.

In comparison, equity mutual funds saw a net inflow of Rs 14,888 crore in January and Rs 25,077 crore in December, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Wednesday.

Equity schemes have been witnessing net inflow since March 2021 and the segment has received a net inflow of Rs 1.45 lakh crore during the period between March 2021 and February 2022 highlighting the positive sentiments among investors.

Prior to this, such schemes had consistently witnessed outflows for eight months from July 2020 to February 2021 losing Rs 46,791 crore.

"The latest inflow is quite encouraging, amid the expected hardening of interest rates and the current geopolitical situation," Ricky Kirpal ani, lead sponsor, First Water Capital Fund (AIF), said.

However, equity and flows would have likely slowed down in March, given that the situation in Ukraine has continued to escalate. On the other hand, the postponing of the LIC IPO to the next fiscal year will also likely help limit, Macili's redemptions, he added.

Kavitha Krishnan, senior analyst (manager research) of Morningstar India, said that despite witnessing significant outflows from FPIs, domestic investors continue to use the market correction to invest in Indian equities.

"Despite concerns over the growing oil prices and the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, which have in turn impacted the commodities markets in India, the markets have been witnessing positive flows," she said.

Akhil Chaturvedi, a chief business officer of Motilal Oswal AMC, said markets have been flat in the past three months at the headline level. "Despite (that), we have seen the domestic appetite for equities to be on the rise. In current times of geopolitical risks where markets have corrected sharply the domestic investors have continued to add more allocation to equity."

Source: PTI