Mutual funds invest Rs. 38,000 crore in debt market in April-May

Mutual fund managers have pumped in nearly Rs. 38,000 crore into the debt market in the first two months (April-May) of the current fiscal, largely on the back of increased participation from retail investors.

Besides, the fund managers invested a net amount of Rs. 6,500 crore in equity markets during the period under review. Fund houses are upbeat about the overall inflows in equity and debt markets for the current financial year (2016-17).

Experts think that increased participation from retail investors is at work for the inflows in the debt market.

As per data released by the capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), mutual fund managers invested a net sum of Rs. 35,523 crore in the debt market in April and another Rs. 2,317 crore in May, taking the total fund mobilisation to Rs. 37,839 crore in the two months.

The inflow has helped the mutual fund industry cross the Rs. 14 lakh-crore mark in assets under management (AUM) at the end of April.

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle with a pool of funds collected from investors to buy securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets.