Mutual fund assets cross Rs 4 trn mark

Assets owned by India's mutual funds crossed the Rs 4-trillion mark for the first time, thanks to the rising stock markets and the launch of more schemes by the fund houses.

Reliance Mutual Fund posted a 21 per cent growth in its assets during May to maintain its number one status for the third month running, leaving behind peers ICICI Prudential and UTI Mutual Fund, which also posted decent gains in the same period.

The total assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry stood at Rs 4,02,035.88 crore (excluding four mutual funds which have not disclosed their data on the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) website), a growth of 14.7 per cent from the last month's AUM of Rs 3,50,279.39 crore.

The Anil Ambani-controlled asset management company leads the AUM table with a total of Rs 59,143.47 crore for the month of May. The company's assets increased by Rs 10,315.44 crore during the period, a growth of 21 per cent from Rs 48,828.03 crore in April, according to the latest figures of the AMFI.

Reliance MF is followed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, UTI MF, HDFC MF and Franklin Templeton, which continue to hold on to their positions as India's top five fund houses.

At number two, Prudential ICICI's assets stood at Rs 50,703 crore, which grew by 19.9 per cent from the previous month's Rs 42,267.85 crore.

UTI Mutual Fund maintained the third slot by growing its assets by over 12 per cent, from Rs 35,517 crore in April to Rs 40,070.16 crore in May.

With the stock market's benchmark Sensex trading near its all-time high (the broader Nifty index is at an all-time high), the equity holdings by domestic fund houses are also showing rapid rise, resulting in higher AUMs.

HDFC Mutual Fund's AUM saw a rise of 14.7 per cent in May to Rs 36,146.66 crore from Rs 31, 511 crore in April, growing faster than UTI Mutual Fund.

Franklin Templeton performed modestly well growing by 7.2 per cent to clock an AUM of Rs 26, 276.35 crore in May.

The newly launched small mutual funds like Lotus and Quantum are also catching up, going by the AMFI data. Quantum grew by 6.39 per cent from Rs 57.38 crore in April to Rs 61.05 crore in May, while the AUM of Lotus stood at Rs 3,623.14 crore in May.