MF assets post 9.5% growth in Jan

Mumbai: A strong rally in the debt market helped the mutual fund industry record a 9.5% monthly increase in total assets during January. At the same time, assets under equity schemes showed a dip.
At the end of January, assets under management (AUM) in the fund industry was at Rs 4.6 lakh crore, up from Rs 4.2 lakh crore in December, data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed. Industry analysts said that about 40-45% of the industry AUM is in equity assets, translating to about Rs 2 lakh crore. And this segment of the AUM showed some dip last month, they said.
At least two factors contributed to the rise in debt fund AUM last month, said Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research, a firm which specialises in mutual fund industry research. “Firstly, the debt market did very well. And secondly, the FMP (fixed maturity plan) money that was redeemed last month came into income funds,’’ Kumar said. The twin effect boosted the debt fund AUMs as well as the overall industry AUM, the fund industry analyst said. AMFI data showed that most of the fund houses recorded rise in their January AUM. Among the top five fund houses, Birla Sun Life MF showed a 15.3% rise in assets to Rs 42,157 crore, the highest in this group. While Reliance and HDFC MFs retained the top two slots, ICICI Prudential, UTI and Birla MFs were in the next three slots.
In terms of monthly AUM growth, while LIC MF showed a 30% rise to Rs 18,732 crore, IDFC MF recorded a 29% jump to Rs 11,427 crore. A spokesperson for IDFC MF said that the fund house’s prudent debt fund investment strategy, renewed focus on equity and performanceoriented approach have brought about this rise in AUM. Among the laggards, new entrant Edelweiss MF witnessed a 59% drop in AUM to Rs 32 crore while Bharti AXA MF’s total assets fell 25%.