Hit by a downtrend for the third consecutive quarter, the mutual fund industry saw its total asset base shrink by about 5% or Rs 36,000 crore in the just-ended fiscal year 2011-12.
Reaching its lowest level in more than two years, the average asset under management (AUM) of the entire Indian mutual fund industry dipped to Rs 6,64,824 crore at the close of the last fiscal, ended March 31, 2012.
The decline of 5% in the last fiscal followed a decline of 11% in the previous fiscal 2010-11, when the the total average AUM had dipped to near Rs 7 lakh crore.
As per the data compiled by the industry body, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), HDFC Mutual Fund retained its pole position as the country's biggest MF with an average AUM of Rs 89,879 crore, followed by Reliance MF (Rs 78,112 crore), ICICI Prudential MF (Rs 68,718 crore), Birla Sunlife MF (Rs 61,143 crore) and UTI MF (Rs 58,922 crore).
While HDFC MF is the country's biggest mutual fund, Reliance Capital Asset Management Co (RCAM) is the the largest and most profitable AMC in India, with total AUM of 1,40,000 crore after taking into account MFs, government-sponsored public funds, managed accounts and hedge funds.
During the fiscal year 2011-12, the total number of retail folios or the number of investor accounts across all the 44 fund houses also declined by around 15 lakhs.
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Their total asset size has declined to a level last seen in July 2010, while it has dropped nearly 17% from the all-time record high of Rs 8 lakh crore in May 2010.
Out of this, the total size of the industry has declined by around 11% in the past three quarters alone, while the dip during the last quarter (January-March 2012) was about 2.5% or Rs 16,884 crore.
Among the top-five fund houses, HDFC MF, Birla Sunlife MF and UTI MF managed to improve their average AUMs in the last quarter, while that of Reliance MF and ICICI Pru MF declined.
Others whose average AUM declined during the last quarter included Franklin Templeton, DSP BlackRock, Kotak Mahindra, IDFC, Tata, Sundaram, Deutsche, Religare, Fidelity, JP Morgan, LIC, IDBI, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Baroda Pioneer, L&T, Peerless, Taurus, Morgan Stanley, Pramerica, ING Vysya, Daiwa, AIG Global, Edelweiss and Bharti AXA Mutual Funds.
A total of 30 fund houses witnessed a decline in their average AUMs during the last quarter, while it increased for 14 others, which included SBI, Axis, Canara Robecco, Principal, Indiabulls, Union KBC, Sahara, Mirae Asset, Motilal Oswal, Escorts, Quantum and IIFL Mutual Funds.