NEW DELHI: Net equity mutual fund inflows tumbled 21.66% month-on-month to just Rs 19,013 crore in May 2025, reaching a yearly low, despite rising market conditions.Yet, buoyed by strong gains in certain debt schemes, the mutual fund industry’s total AUM reached a peak of Rs72.2 lakh crore, revealed the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data on Tuesday.The data showed that net equity mutual fund inflows decreased to Rs 18,995 crore in May 2025, compared to Rs 24,253 crore in April 2025.This represents the lowest equity inflow in a year, whilst the Sensex increased by over 1.5 per cent and Nifty 50 grew by over 1.7 per cent during the month, indicating investor caution amidst high valuations and global political tensions.“Equity Net Sales has seen a sharp downtick of 22 per cent largely on account of higher redemptions by 5k cr in May’25 (viz April’25). This was probably due to the war-like situation in the beginning of the month leading to sentiment being cautious,” executive director & chief business officer, Motilal Oswal AMC Akhil Chaturvedi, told ANI.Largecap funds experienced the strongest impact, with net inflows reducing by 53.19 per cent to Rs 1,250 crore in May, from Rs 2,671 crore in April, while midcap and small-cap funds also experienced decreases of 15.25 per cent and 19.64 per cent, respectively.Mid-cap fund inflows reduced to Rs 2808.7 crore in May from Rs 3,313 crore in April whilst small-cap funds inflows decreased to Rs 3,214 crore in May from Rs 3,999.95 crore in April.This reduction indicates a possible pause in retail participation due to concerns regarding elevated mid- and small-cap valuations.SIP contribution remained stable in May at Rs 26,688 crore compared to Rs 26,632 crore in April, demonstrating continued retail investor confidence in systematic investments.“SIP numbers over 26000 cr is very encouraging, which implies that the fresh investment preferred route has been SIP than lumpsum” Chaturvedi added.Regarding debt investments, debt mutual funds recorded net outflows of Rs 15,908 crore, contrasting with Rs 2.19 lakh crore net inflow in April. Liquid funds (Rs 40,205 crore) and overnight funds (Rs 8,120 crore) experienced major outflows.Corporate bond funds and money market funds attracted net inflows of Rs 11,983 crore and Rs 11,223 crore, respectively. Despite reduced equity and debt inflows, the mutual fund industry’s overall AUM increased to Rs72.20 lakh crore, up from Rs 69.99 lakh crore in April, supported by market appreciation and steady SIP contributions.