MF exposure to banking stocks surges to Rs 76,000 cr in Jan

Investment in this space have more than doubled since Jan 2014, when the exposure was Rs 30,339 cr

Continuing with their bullish stance on banking stocks, mutual fund managers raised exposure to the sector to a historic high of over Rs 76,000 crore in January.

In comparison, investment in banking stocks was at Rs 30,339 crore in January 2014.

Mutual Funds (MFs) collect funds from various investors for investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets.

Their investments in banking stocks stood at Rs 76,061 crore as on January 31, 2014, accounting for 21.4 per cent of their total equity assets under management (AUM) of Rs 3.55 lakh crore, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

This also marks the fourth consecutive rise in MF industry's exposure to banking stocks.

The previous high was December last year when investment in the sector stood at Rs 72,835 crore.

MFs had been raising their exposure to banking shares since January last year but their investment level in the sector dropped in September.

The industry again increased the exposure in October and the momentum continued till January 2015.

Software was the second most preferred sector last month with an exposure of Rs 35,463 crore, followed by pharmaceuticals (Rs 24,366 crore), auto (23,178 crore) and finance (Rs 21,993 crore).

According to market participants, the ongoing market rally might see mutual fund assets getting diversified.