New account registrations rise to record highs as SIP tide swells

The SIP revolution that has taken the investment world in India by storm is relentlessly erecting new landmarks with gross account registration reaching a new record of 37 lakh in September 2023. Numbers from AMFI also showed that the SIP tide is continuously swelling with more than 30 lakh additions for the third month in succession that ignored the volatile markets.

The number of SIP accounts in the country is now at an all-time high of 7.13 crore. The rise in the number of SIPs actually keeps on bolstering the depth and strength of the stock markets that is increasingly becoming immune to the heavy FPI withdrawals, lending the markets a stability that is luring more and more investors to the markets in search of inflation-beating gains.

Incidentally, just 10 years ago, in 2014, total SIP flow stood at Rs 14,500 crore a year. Now it sails past well over 10 times that amount comfortably every month.

In fact, the AMFI data reveals a number of insights into the growing trust of domestic investors in this route. In September a total of Rs 16,042 crore – 110% of the annual inflow in 2014 – came via the SIPs. The assets under management of SIPs swelled to Rs 18.5 lakh crore, another record. Over the past 12 months, SIP-linked funds recorded inflows of Rs 1.7 lakh crore, which is roughly equal to the cumulative FPI inflow during the period.

Between July and September 2023, average monthly gross SIP registration was 35 lakh. This is far higher than the previous 24-month average of 22 lakh.

The net SIP registration on a 12-month rolling basis stood at 1.29 crore, the highest in the past 12 months.

The AUM related to SIPs grew at a whopping 32% rate a year in the past five years compared with the 16% rise of cumulative AUM in the mutual fund industry. This has almost doubled the share of SIP AUM in the total mutual fund AUM from 9.9% five years ago to 18.7% now.