Small towns account for 15.3 pc of MF asset base, Maharashtra biggest contributor

Small towns or B30 cities contributed 15.3 per cent to mutual fund industry's assets under management of Rs 25.64 lakh crore as of August-end, and Maharashtra remained the biggest contributor to the assets base.

Over the past few years, markets regulator Sebi has been pushing asset management companies to reach out to small towns for increasing their assets base.

According to the Association of Mutual Fund Industry (AMFI) data collated by rating agency Icra, B30 (beyond top 30 cities) accounted for 15.30 per cent of the total industry AAUM in August this year, as against 15.49 per cent in July and 14.48 per cent in August 2018.

The balance was contributed by T30 cities, or the top 30 locations in India.

The mutual fund industry's total Average Assets Under Management (AAUM) came in at Rs 25.64 lakh crore last month as against Rs 25.81 lakh crore in the preceding month and Rs 25.2 lakh crore in August 2018.

In terms of state-wise contribution, Maharashtra continued to be the biggest contributor (41.80 per cent) of the industry's AAUM in August this year, followed by New Delhi (8.68 per cent), Karnataka (7.27 per cent) and Gujarat (6.97 per cent), despite fall in monthly contribution.

The AAUM from Maharashtra and New Delhi came in at about Rs 10.72 lakh crore and Rs 2.23 lakh crore, respectively.

Of the total AAUM, proportionate share of equity-oriented schemes came in at 40.78 per cent of the industry assets in the month under review as against 41.76 per cent in July.

Individual investors (including high net worth individuals) held 52.60 per cent of the industry AAUM last month as against 53.71 per cent in July, while institutional investors held the balance 47.40 per cent, out of which 89.56 per cent is held by corporates and rest by banks and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).