Top 10 mutual funds' share in total AUM dips below 80%, shows analysis

The top 10 fund houses are slowly losing ground to their smaller peers, even as they continue to hold the lion's share in the total assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund (MF) industry, according to an analysis of the quarterly AUM for the past six years.

These fund houses had an average AUM of Rs 38.8 trillion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023-24, which is 79 per cent of the total industry AUM of Rs 49.2 trillion.

The share has come down steadily since Q3 of 2019-2020, when the share stood at 84 per cent.

Experts attribute this phenomenon to the declining debt fund share in the total AUM and the growing number of mutual fund players.

The larger fund houses have a stronger hold in active debt funds vis-a-vis active equity funds. 

The top 10 MFs' share in active equity AUM is close to 70 per cent, according to an analysis of the quarterly AUM disclosure of AMCs.

Post-pandemic, the active equity schemes have registered a sharp jump in their share in total AUM at the expense of debt funds.

The active equity funds now account for 41 per cent of industry AUM vis-a-vis 28 per cent in February 2020.

At the same time, active debt funds' share has slumped from 45 per cent to 28 per cent, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).

Overall, the average AUM of MFs in Q3 FY 2024 stood at 49.3 trillion, almost 5 per cent higher than in the previous quarter.

This is the sixth consecutive quarter when the AUM has recorded a growth. Compared to Q3 FY 2023, the AUM is up 22 per cent.

The rise has largely been on account of a sharp rally in the equity market and surging inflows into equity schemes, mostly through systematic investment plan (SIP) accounts.

Among the top 10 AMCs, Nippon India MF registered the highest sequential growth in AUM in Q3 at 7.7 per cent, followed by Mirae Asset MF. SBI MF, ICICI Prudential MF, and HDFC MF remain the top three fund houses, each cornering over Rs 5 trillion.