Equity funds bore brunt of Monday mayhem

Funds witness medium-to-large scale redemptions

The mayhem witnessed on the bourses in the last few days, particularly on Friday and Monday with loses of over 895 points, has severely dented the mutual fund industry.

Equity mutual funds have been the worst hit as most of them have seen a sharp erosion in their net assets over the three-day period up to May 17.

On an average, the set of 78 open-ended equity funds have lost in excess of 9 per cent of their net assets during the period. For a one-week period, the average loss was nearly double at 18.20 per cent, according to data from MutualfundsIndia.

Industry sources said most of the equity mutual funds have seen medium-to-large scale redemptions from retail investors who decided to withdraw their investments in a panic situation.

The lowest losers during the days were two Unit Trust of India schemes "" UTI Variable Income Scheme and UTI Mid cap Fund.

Among the bigger losers were two Canara Bank Schemes - Canequity Diversified with a lose of 11.33 per cent and Canbonus with a 11.33 per cent fall in net asset value "" and Taurus Bonanza Exclusive with a 13.45 per cent fall in NAV.

The markets recovered today which had shown signs of recovery on Monday itself, pulling each from the day's low.

Market participants said that it remains to be seen how far the mutual funds, particularly the equity diversified and sectoral schemes, are able to revive their sagging fortunes.

Fund managers seem to have not given up hopes of a recovery as they look forward to more stable times ahead.

Paras Adenwala, head - equities, Birla Sunlife Mutual Life, said, "It has been business as usual for us and we are looking at a positive long-term market "

He added that they are realigning their portfolios.

According to Tata Mutual Fund officials, "The fundamentals of the economy has not changed significantly over the past fortnight. From a bottom-up level, corporate performance continues to be good, key sectors continue to display positive trends and the broad arguments v/s positive demographics, low interest rates, growing demand, a restructured corporate sector and hence the potential for long-term value creation remains. The fundamentals of the market remain intact."