MF industry assets grow Rs 2.54 lakh cr in FY10

The mutual fund industry shrugged off the recession blues and added over Rs 2.54 lakh crore to its assets under management (AUM) in fiscal 2009-10 to take its AUM to Rs 7.47 lakh crore.

The average AUM of the fund houses rose Rs 2.54 lakh crore or 51 per cent in the last fiscal, from Rs 4.92 lakh crore at the end of 2009-09 fiscal, according to the data available with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Reliance MF maintained its position as the top fund house with a hefty 36 per cent increase in AUM to Rs 1,10,413 crore at the end of March.

The other leading fund houses -- HDFC MF, ICICI MF and UTI MF --- also saw an increase in their average AUM.

During the fiscal, HDFC MF's AUM rose by 54 per cent to Rs 88,779 crore and ICICI MF's asset base increased 57 per cent to Rs 80,988 crore. Besides, UTI MF's AUM stood at Rs 80,217 crore at the end of March, higher by 65 per cent YoY.

Analysts believe the growth in the corpus in 2009-10 fiscal was driven mainly by a huge increase in debt inflows as banks parked money with MFs in the time of slow credit off take.

Till February 2010, the total investment in income or debt schemes of MFs was at Rs 2.61 lakh crore, while equity schemes saw net inflow of Rs 2,611 crore.

With high volatility in the stock market during the year, investors looked for avenues of mutual gains and lesser risk to reap returns on their investments.

In the fiscal the market barometer Sensex gained 80 per cent to 17,527.77 points, thereby maximising gains for equity investors.

The average AUM of the industry hit an all-time high of Rs 8.07 lakh crore at the end of November 2009.

The year was particularly significant as the market regulator Sebi acted in favour of the investors and eased norms making it easier for them to invest in mutual funds.

The key changes included abolishment of entry load on purchase of schemes and allowing MFs to be traded on the stock exchanges.