Top mutual fund houses get the lion's share of equity assets

Large mutual fund (MF) houses have cornered most of the record inflow into equity schemes in the past year, as investors gravitated to established names and schemes that delivered consistent return. 

The top 10 asset managers mopped Rs 1.4 lakh crore, amounting to 84 per cent of the total equity assets added by the sector in the year, shows data from Value Research. 

SBI Mutual Fund added the most by way of equity assets in this period, overtaking HDFC MF to become the largest fund house, ranked according to equity asset base. Its equity assets grew 76 per cent to Rs 69,194 crore as of June 30, while HDFC MF’s grew 28 per cent to Rs 68,497 crore. 

SBI MF has benefited from Employees' Provident Fund Organisation inflow; the body has been steadily increasing its allocation to equities, said experts. Its SBI ETF Nifty 50, an exchange traded fund, recently nudged past HDFC Equity to become the largest equity scheme in the country.

Kotak MF has posted the highest percentage growth among large fund houses, with its equity assets doubling in the past one year to Rs 23,164 crore.  Beside these three, Reliance, ICICI Prudential, Birla Sun Life and Franklin Templeton added equity assets over Rs 10,000 crore. Among mid-size funds, Mirae Asset’s equity assets saw the steepest percentage jump, of 111 per cent. 

Equity assets are considered a lot stickier than debt assets, as the bulk of equity money typically comes from individual investors, both small and wealthy. Assets under management of equity schemes as of June 2017 were at a record high of Rs 5.25 lakh crore, shows data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. The sector has seen a significant uptick in money flowing in through systematic investment plans.