New SIP accounts at record high amid outflows from MFs | Economic Times

With the equity market scaling new highs, new systematic investment plan (SIP) account registrations rose to a record 16.4 lakh in January, show data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).This is the second month in a row when SIP registrations hit record highs. The previous peak was in January 2018 at 12.9 lakh accounts. The two-month rolling average of new SIP registration reached 30.7 lakh accounts compared with an average 18 lakh in the past four-and-half years.The sharp surge in the new SIP accounts has brought down the SIP stoppage ratio to 0.47 in January, the lowest in 28 months. This is the ratio of the number of closed SIP accounts and the new accounts opened. It had peaked at 0.81 in May 2020.Besides, the net SIP account addition was 8.7 lakh in January, the highest in three years. The total outstanding SIP accounts stood at 3.6 crore at the end of the month. The encouraging SIP data comes at a time when mutual funds have recorded net outflows for seven months in a row. The total cumulative redemptions reached ₹42,257 crore.A marketing head of a leading asset management company said SIP account opening has picked up due to several factors such as a drop in the interest rate on fixed deposits, increased physical meetings of financial advisers with clients after the relaxation of lockdown norms in July, and a pick-up in consumer confidence with stability in disposable income. 81098912