MFs go slow on equities in July; net buying drops to 17-month low

With equity investments cooling off a bit, money managers are also seen tweaking their investment strategies

Mutual fund managers were seen going slow with their equity purchases in July, amid the benchmark indices surging to record highs. Equity schemes bought shares worth Rs 40 billion last month - the lowest since February 2017. Net investments were 57 per cent lower than the preceding month's tally of Rs 92 billion and 67 per cent lower than the one-year monthly average of Rs 122 billion. 

Industry experts attribute the drop in equity investments to slowing inflows into equity schemes.

Sundeep Sikka, executive director and CEO of Reliance MF, said gross inflows have slowed down as high-networth investors (HNIs),