HDFC mutual fund retains top slot; ICICI Pru catches up

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is set to beat HDFC Mutual Fund for the top slot on the back of a strong 22 percent growth in its average asset under management in the January-March quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund grew its assets by about 22 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of the financial year ended March 31. With this growth, the company has entered into the Rs.1 trillion club.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund average asset under management (AAUM) grew to Rs.106,822 crore in the January-March quarter, just Rs.6,000 crore short of top rank holder HDFC Mutual Fund, which had an AAUM of Rs.112,963 crore during the quarter, growing at a slower pace of 11 percent.

Another large player Reliance Mutual Fund was also chasing the leaders with an AAUM of Rs.103,541 crore.

The Indian mutual fund industry data which comprised of 46 mutual funds showed a total AAUM of Rs.857,218 crore during the fourth quarter, adding Rs.40,561 crore over the previous financial year. In percentage terms, the growth was less than five percent.

In the annual AAUM data, HDFC Mutual Fund was the top fund, followed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and Reliance Mutual Fund.

HDFC Mutual fund grew slowest among the large mutual funds, adding just Rs.9,116 crore to its annual AAUM, which is about 9 percent growth. Reliance grew at 13 percent, while ICICI registered a growth of 20 percent.

Of the 46 mutual funds, 24 showed negative growth in their AAUM in the last quarter over the same period a year ago. Twenty-eight funds had AAUM under Rs.10,000 crore, while only six funds had AAUM above Rs.50,000 crore with the top three funds having AAUM over Rs.1 lakh crore.

Besides HDFC, ICICI and Reliance, the gainers included Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, UTI Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund, Franklin Templeton MF, L&T Mutual Fund and Axis Mutual Fund.

The losers included Kotak Mutual Fund, DSP Black Rock MF, JM Mutual Fund, Canara Rabeco MF, IDBI Mutual Fund, Principal Mutual Fund, Goldman Sachs Mutual Fund, BNP Paribas MF, Peerless MF, Taurus Mutual Fund, BOI AXA Mutual Fund, and Indiabulls Mutual Fund, among others.

Reliance Mutual Fund, ICICI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund together manage about 38 percent of the total assets under management, the industry data showed.