MF industry's assets cross Rs 6 lakh cr in May

The mutual fund industry crossed a record Rs 6 lakh crore- (Rs 6 trillion-) mark in assets in May, with the country's largest fund house, Reliance MF, alone accounting for over Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion).

The mutual fund industry's average assets under management grew by Rs 86,355.19 crore (Rs 863.55 billion), or 15.66 per cent, and analysts said the increased inflows into fund houses show that investors are regaining confidence in equity schemes.

The combined average AUM of the 35 fund houses in the country increased to Rs 6,37,609.41 crore (Rs 6,376.09 billion) in May compared to Rs 5,51,25,422 crore (Rs 5,51,25,4.22 billion) in April, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

Reliance MF maintained its top position as the largest fund house in the country with Rs 14,342.17 crore (Rs 143.42 billion) or 13 per cent jump in AUM to Rs 1,02,730.16 crore (Rs 1,027.3 billion) at May-end.

It had an AUM of Rs 88.387.98 crore (Rs 883.87 billion) at the end of April. The second-largest fund house, HDFC MF, gained Rs 11,525.47 crore (Rs 115.25 billion) in its AUM at Rs 75,406.10 crore (Rs 754.06 billion).

"The market has gone up substantially and the investors are also showing interest in equity schemes. With increased inflows, the subscription is also increasing," Sahara Mutual Fund CEO Naresh Garg said.

ICICI Prudential and state-run UTI MF added Rs 9,500.58 crore (Rs 95 billion) and Rs 8,947.88 crore (Rs 89.47 billion), respectively, to their assets last month.

ICICI Prudential's AUM stood at Rs 65,549.86 crore (Rs 655.49 billion) at the end of May, while UTI MF had assets worth Rs 63,437.87 crore (Rs 634.37 billion).

"Investors are now waiting for some kind of reforms in the upcoming budget. Any further gains in AUMs would depend on the speed of reforms," Garg said.

Further, LIC Mutual Fund saw an increase of Rs 2,483.49 crore (Rs 24.83 billion) in its AUM at Rs 28,598.76 crore (Rs 285.98 billion) last month.

The other fund houses which saw an increase in their average AUM in May include -- Canara Robeco MF, IDFC MF, DSP BlackRock, Deutsche MF and Kotak Mahindra MF.

The BSE benchmark index Sensex saw a 28 per cent gain in May and had settled at 14,625.25 points.

The fund houses had seen the combined AUM hitting the Rs 5-lakh crore (Rs 5-trillion) mark after a gap of two months at the end of April.