Retail MF folios cross 4-crore mark, equity schemes shine

Led by equity schemes, retail mutual fund folios rose sharply for the third consecutive quarter to cross the 4-crore mark for the first time in the June quarter since March 2013, rating agency Crisil said today.
Retail folios rose 2.36 per cent in the latest quarter (April-June) after 3.42 per cent and 1.69 per cent rise in the previous two quarters, respectively. In absolute terms, retail folios increased 9.43 lakh to 4.09 crore, led by the equity category. Overall, the industry saw a rise of 10.38 lakh folios (2.49%) in the latest quarter, a Crisil release said.
Some 8.17 lakh equity folios were added in the June quarter, taking the total to 3.16 crore. As many as 11.82 lakh accounts were added in the preceding quarter (January-March).

The high net worth individuals or HNIs (individuals investing Rs 5 lakh or more) segment saw a growth of 6.22 per cent, or 0.89 lakh, to 15.20 lakh folios compared with a rise of 1.09 lakh folios in the preceding three months. The surge was led by equities (48% of the total HNI folio base), which reported an addition of 0.70 lakh folios.
Debt fund folios, 16 per cent of the total folio count, increased for the second successive quarter to 68.65 lakh in June 2015, from 68.35 lakh in March 2015.
Within debt funds, retail folios scaled a new high of 61.38 lakh as the category saw an addition of 32,578 retail folios in the June quarter compared with 70,491 in the previous quarter, the rating agency said.

Gilt funds saw closure of 585 (consolidated) folios in retail and HNI segments in the just-ended quarter after an addition of 6,030 and 6,781 folios in the preceding two quarters, respectively.

Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw nearly 1 per cent decline to end at 4.61 lakh folios following 21,742 folio closure in the previous quarter.
Corporates continued to dominate mutual fund AUM with 47 per cent share in June 2015, up from 46 per cent in March 2015. HNIs were the second biggest contributor at 28 per cent.
But the retail segment's share in total mutual fund AUM slipped to 21 per cent in the June quarter, from 23 per cent in the preceding three months, it added.