New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS): Net inflows into equity mutual fund schemes were down 23 per cent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in December 2018 at Rs 67 billion (6,700 crore), a JM Financial research report said on Tuesday.

The report said that equity mutual fund flows including arbitrage mutual fund schemes was at Rs 45 billion (4,500 crore) in December, down from Rs 110 billion (11,000 crore) in November.

"Unlike November 2018 (when liquid mutual fund schemes witnesses strong inflows), liquid mutual fund schemes saw large outflows of Rs 1.5 trillion (1.5 lakh crore) in December 18, while debt mutual fund schemes (ex-liquid) continued to witness outflows (Rs 34 billion in December 2018)," it said.

The report, however, noted that the inflows through the Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) were strong in December at Rs 80.2 billion (8,020 crore), higher by 29 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

On the insurance sector, the report noted that India's insurance sector registered a 14 per cent growth in annual premium equivalent (APE) in December 2018 compared to 19 per cent growth December 2017.

The report said that the APE of private insurers grew by 15 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in December 2018 as against 23 per cent in the corresponding period of 2017, and that of state-run Life Insurance Corp grew by 12 per cent in December.

"In December 2018, the industry recorded APE growth of 14 per cent YoY versus 19 per cent in December 2017 with a decent performance by both private insurers (15 per cent YoY APE growth versus 23 per cent in 2018) and LIC (12 per cent versus 14 per cent in 2018)," it said.