Even though the stock market stayed under pressure in January, mutual funds didn’t sit on the sidelines. Equity funds stepped in with fresh buying, helping stabilize sentiment when indices were shaky.
Big picture: What happened in January
According to data from Prime Database’s monthly mutual fund tracker:
-
₹13,705.87 crore was invested by equity mutual fund schemes
-
Total equity cash deployed now stands at ₹1.35 lakh crore
-
Overall cash holdings with fund houses jumped 46% month-on-month to ₹4.73 lakh crore
So yes—funds are both buying equities and keeping dry powder ready.
Who held the most cash?
-
SBI Mutual Fund saw the highest increase in total cash holdings:
➝ ₹29,281.77 crore -
Interestingly, SBI MF’s equity cash holdings actually fell by ₹1,858.97 crore, indicating selective deployment.
Top equity investors among fund houses
Among equity schemes, the most aggressive buyers were:
-
Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund – ₹6,690.33 crore
-
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund – ₹3,500 crore
-
PPFAS Mutual Fund – ₹3,147.14 crore
These three alone accounted for a major chunk of January’s equity inflows.
Stocks mutual funds bought and sold
Most bought stocks:
-
HDFC Bank
-
ICICI Bank
-
Biocon
-
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Most sold stocks:
-
Hindalco
-
MCX
-
Vedanta
-
State Bank of India
Sector allocation snapshot
By the end of January, mutual fund exposure looked like this:
-
Financial services: 32%
-
Consumer sector: 17.35%
-
Industrial sector: 9.32%
Clearly, banks and financials remain the backbone of MF portfolios.
Debt funds made a comeback
-
Debt schemes saw inflows of ₹74,827 crore
-
This is a sharp reversal from ₹1.32 lakh crore outflows in December
That suggests improving confidence and tactical allocation back into fixed-income products.
Valuation & volatility: What fund managers are saying
As per ICICI Prudential AMC:
-
Indian markets have underperformed global peers recently
-
Valuations have softened and the rupee has weakened
-
Despite corrections, overall valuations remain in the neutral zone
Long-term outlook: Still positive
Short-term risks:
-
Geopolitical & trade tensions
-
Volatile FII flows
-
Global valuation concerns
-
Macro uncertainty
