Equity mutual fund AUM climbs 29 pc to Rs 3.64 lakh cr

Asset base of equity mutual funds has surged 29 per cent to Rs 3.64 lakh crore at the end of December from a year ago on the back of retail investors pouring money into these schemes.
The industry's equity assets under management (AUM) rose to Rs 3.64 lakh crore last month, from Rs 2.83 lakh crore in December 2014, according to Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
In November, the asset base of equity MFs read Rs 3.62 lakh crore.
Despite a 6 per cent slump in the BSE benchmark Sensex in 2015, investors pumped in money into equity schemes.

"Retail participation has shown a remarkable resilience to market volatility last year," Quantum Asset Management Company CEO Jimmy Patel said.
Furthermore, the MF industry expects to attract a larger share of the Indian households' savings from this year too, given the sluggish trend in the real estate market and a continued fall in gold prices.

In 2015, equity and equity-linked saving schemes saw an infusion of about Rs 90,600 crore. However, many investors are shying away from gold as it continues to perform below par.
Gold ETFs have seen an outflow of Rs 891 crore during the period under review.

Inflow in equity schemes has helped the 44 mutual funds reach an all-time high of Rs 13.41 lakh crore mark in AUM at the end of December.
Mutual fund is an investment vehicle with a pool of funds collected from investors to buy securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets.