Recent market rally proved time in the market and not timing delivers better outcomes: Navneet Munot of HDFC AMC

India's equity market delivered lacklustre returns over two years. But a sharp rally driven by foreign portfolio investors' inflows saw the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 gain around 11% in the past one month.

Navneet Munot, the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Asset Management Company, pointed out that the sudden and sharp rally once again proved that one can't really time the market and that those retail investors who have patiently continued to invest systematically month after month have benefited from it.

"The rally over the last two weeks or so has once again proved that it is not the timing, but the time in market that matters. Once again it proves that the best way of investing is to invest in a disciplined manner and consistency is more important than keep trying to time it," Munot told Business Today.

Over the last two years, Indian equity returns have been lacklustre amid massive selling by foreign investors against the backdrop of geopolitical uncertainties and a lack of meaningful AI-related opportunities in the domestic market.

So far this month, till November 13, foreign portfolio investors have pumped in Rs 84,291 crore into India's equity market, which is more than the Rs 70,704 crore FPIs pulled out over the two months of September and October. For the full year, though, FPIs remain net sellers to the tune of over Rs 2.10 lakh crore.

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In contrast, domestic inflows, especially retail flows through mutual fund systematic investment plans (SIPs), have been steady. Data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed that equity funds saw inflows of Rs 32,994 crore in October 2026. This was the 68th month of positive equity inflows. SIP contributions for October stood at Rs 32,160 crore.

Munot said that the fund house had been continuously saying that investors should "take advantage of the volatility rather than getting swayed by it."

"Thanks to the resilience and the maturity of our investors, the SIP flows continue to remain above Rs 30,000 crore and those investors have clearly benefited," he stressed.

Will the recent rebound in FII flows last? According to Munot, no global investor can ignore India, given the structural long-term macro opportunity as well as the bottom-up stock selection opportunity.

"It was only a matter of time before global investors would have invested back in India at a net level," he said.

In fact, Munot pointed out that global investors had participated decently in many of the initial public offers, even while they were net sellers in the secondary market.

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Munot feels the long-term opportunity in India's equity market remains very much intact.

"The sharp rally has enhanced the mood of every investor. I think the fundamental factors remain robust. The earnings season has gone very well. The corporate commentary has been positive. The balance sheets have been in good shape, be it corporate balance sheet or banks balance sheet," he explained.

HDFC AMC's specialised investment fund, H-SiF, on Friday launched its first scheme — the Hybrid Long Short Fund.

As the name suggests, the fund will follow a hybrid strategy, investing in a mix of debt, equity, including arbitrage and special situations (IPOs, open offers, mergers, etc.), infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and derivatives strategies.

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