UTI executive director Brij Gopal Daga told The Financial Express that redemptions were also under control, leading to net inflows so far for the Trust.

"Till now, the total inflows would be over Rs 5,000 crore, even without taking into account the switchovers under the Rajlakshmi scheme", Mr Daga pointed out.

He said the Trust's flagship scheme, US-64, had mopped up close to Rs 2,200 crore so far, and was on course to ending the fiscal with total inflows of Rs 4,000 crore. Till the end of October, redemptions were at Rs 2430 crore.

"October, however, was a dismal month for the entire mutual funds industry. It has been noticed that whenever markets are depressed, the inflows to the mutual funds also decline, when it should actually be just the reverse", Mr Daga pointed out.

Normally, mutual funds wait for downturns in the stockmarkets before making their pickings, since the valuations then look more attractive, but the October downturn in inflows has hit the industry.

Underscoring the fact that several investors under the Rajlakshmi scheme have opted for switchovers, he said of the 12 lakh investors under the recently-terminated scheme for the girl child, as many as 7 lakh had responded with either a request for money or for conversion to other schemes.

"At the moment, it's about fifty-fifty in terms of those wanting out and those wanting to convert to other schemes", Mr Daga said.

He said while UTI had decided to aggressively market its schemes and raise inflows, redemptions were something beyond the Trust's control. "We can only bring in funds. But redemptions are sentiment-driven. They are guided by a host of factors", he pointed out.

In the period July-October, US-64 had seen a 94 per cent increase in net sales, while total sales touched Rs 2053 crore. Mr Daga said every day substantial funds are coming into the scheme.