MFs add 12.61 lakh folios in June-qtr, move towards 5-cr mark

Edging towards the 5-crore milestone, mutual funds added 12.61 lakh investor accounts or folios in the June quarter to take the tally to a record 4.89 crore, MF industry body AMFI said today.
Retail folios, accounting for 95 per cent of total mutual fund (MF) folios, grew for the seventh quarter on the trot, AMFI said in a report.
In the April-June period, 11.42 lakh folios were added (the figure was 17.05 lakh in the preceding quarter), to take the count to a six-year high of 4.65 crore. In all, the total folio count stood at a record 4.89 crore.

Folios are numbers designated for individual investor accounts, though one investor can have multiple accounts.
Around 76 per cent of the total retail portfolios put money in equity-oriented funds for the seventh consecutive quarter amid an uptrend in the stock market.
Equity-oriented schemes added 5.81 lakh folios (lower than 12.57 lakh folios in the preceding quarter) to take the total to 3.54 crore.

As per the report, balanced funds, with higher orientation towards equity, added 1.09 lakh retail folios in the June quarter to push the total to 24.47 lakh. The liquid retail category added 1.92 lakh folios to touch a record high of 4.68 lakh.

The debt category added 2.71 lakh retail folios in the quarter from 3.26 lakh in the preceding quarter.
Folios held by high networth individuals (HNIs), or those investing Rs 5 lakh or more as defined by AMFI, crossed the 19 lakh mark. This segment added 1.05 lakh folios in the June quarter.
Though equity funds dominated the HNI segment with 49 per cent share (9.31 lakh folios), debt fund folios have increased in the past four quarters. The debt category added 0.42 lakh accounts to stand at 7.34 lakh folios in the April-June period as against 0.26 lakh in the previous quarter, the report said.

The share of corporates' AUM in mutual funds declined marginally to 46 per cent in the June quarter from 47 per cent in the January-March period.
HNIs were the second biggest contributor with 28 per cent share, whereas the retail segment's share was steady at 22 per cent, it added.
Around 53 per cent of retail AUM stayed in equity MFs for more than two years, higher than 52.94 per cent in the preceding quarter. Of the Rs 2.45 trillion of retail investments in equity-oriented mutual funds, Rs 1.30 trillion was held for over 24 months, the report said.
In comparison, 26.48 per cent of HNI AUM stayed invested in equity mutual funds for more than two years, up from 23.96 per cent in the January-March quarter.