Fixed plans spur fund assets 2.8%

The average assets under management (AAUMs) of the mutual fund industry saw a spurt in August as money trickled in through fixed maturity plans, after witnessing an erosion in the average assets for two consecutive months on the back of a series of liquidity tightening measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

AAUMs rose by 2.77 per cent, or Rs 14, 686 crore, to Rs 5,44,317.25 crore from July, indicates data released by the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI). Reliance Mutual Fund continued to retain the top spot, while HDFC Mutual Fund grabbed the second spot by managing to notch a higher AAUM than ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund. UTI Mutual Fund and Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund have bagged the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
 

LATEST ATTRACTION AAUMs in August as against July
Fund house	Average AUMs (in Rs Crore)	%change over July avg AUM
Reliance MF	88616.46	4.80
HDFC MF	53858.62	6.12
ICICI Pru MF	53092.78	-3.74
UTI MF	46947.32	1.80
Birla Sun Life MF	38184.08	1.82

People associated with the fund industry said the soaring call money rates led to a lack of participation in liquid funds from banks. “We saw large inflows coming into retail fixed maturity plans. On the equity side, money came in through systematic investment plans (SIPs). On the whole, growth for the industry was flat this time,” said Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer, UTI Mutual Fund.

Fixed maturity plans are close-ended schemes of a specific duration, where the investor can withdraw money only after paying a penalty. Fund houses give an indicative yield as to how much an FMP will offer.

Retail investors are attracted to such products at this time because interest rates are headed northwards and stock markets volatile.