The turnover of online platforms at stock exchanges is rising steadily for mutual fund investments. In September, average daily turnover of BSE’s StAR MF was over R5.97 crore while NSE’s Mutual Fund Service System?s turnover was over R5.39 crore.
September volumes have tripled for NSE as against the July figures while it has risen 80% for BSE.
According to market participants, the sudden surge in volumes could be attributed to rising demand for gold exchange traded funds (ETFs). Gold ETFs assets have risen sharply in the past few months as indian investors preferred gold over other asset classes in these times of uncertainty.
Debasish Mallick, MD and CEO of IDBI MF says, ?Earlier there was not much awareness about the online platforms, but over a period of time we have seen a rise in the turnover of online platforms. We also assume that such surge in the numbers is also due to the growing demand of Gold ETF’s.?
Past few months have seen many fund houses coming out with new fund offerings (NFOs) of the Gold ETFs. Currently, total corpus of Gold ETFs stands at R8,000 crore, according to the data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). ?Some big fund houses like Reliance MF and SBI MF have come out with Gold ETFs and many high net worth individuals are investing through the online route ,? said a marketing head of leading fund house in the country.
In the last five months, there has been steady increase in the average daily turnover at both the exchanges. In the month of May, MFSS had average daily turnover of over R1.19 crore (including subscription and redemptions) and since then it has seen rise to R5.39 crore in September; an increase of over 350%
Despite constant rise in the turnovers, several market players believe that online platforms have not found the success which was expected as most investors, continue to invest outside of the exchanges. ?With Amfi planning to come out with online platform we believe that in the months to come we will see more turnover on the online platforms ,? added Mallick.