'Indian Mutual fund industry assets growing faster than forecasts'

The assets under management (AUM) of the Indian mutual industry are set to touch the Rs 20 lakh crore-mark soon -- sooner than the earlier forecasts of 2020, said a top official of Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, reacting to the latest industry data.

As per available data, the AUM of the mutual fund industry touched Rs 16.93 lakh crore at the end of the quarter of October-December 2016, up from Rs 16.10 lakh crore at the end of the previous quarter of July-September 2016.

"As more and more money enters the banking system, we see a clear surge in investments within capital markets, especially MF (mutual funds) and debt instruments," said Sundeep Sikka, Executive Director and Chief Executive of Reliance Life.

"We are quite confident of the MF industry touching Rs 20 lakh crore sooner than expected."

Industry analysis further showed that Reliance Mutual Fund outperformed the industry, adding Rs 12,717 crore to its AUM during October-December 2016, while narrowing the gap between itself and the two other top players -- ICICI Prudential and HDFC Mutual.

ICICI maintained the top position in terms of AMU with Rs 2,27,989 crore, HDFC was next with Rs 2,21,825 crore and Birla was third with Rs 1,80,808 crore.

--IANS

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