MF assets hit record high of Rs 13.24 lakh cr in Oct

Driven by strong inflows in equity and liquid schemes, the asset base of country's mutual fund industry surged 11.5% to an all-time high of over Rs 13.24 lakh crore in October.

The country's 44 fund houses together had an average assets under management (AUM) of over Rs 11.87 lakh crore in September, the latest data of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.

Industry experts said the quarterly rise in AUM is largely on account of inflows in equity and money market liquid categories. Besides, retail participation in equity schemes has risen significantly in recent months.

Investors remained buoyant on equity mutual funds despite the ongoing volatility, experts added.

Overall inflow in mutual fund schemes stood at Rs 1.35 lakh crore at the end of last month, compared with an outflow of Rs 77,142 crore at September-end.

Of this, liquid or money market category saw Rs 1.03 lakh crore coming in while equity segment saw an inflow of Rs 6,005 crore.

Participation from retail investors has been rising in equity schemes as the segment witnessed an addition of over 21 lakh investor accounts or folios in the first six months of 2015-16.

Besides, addition in equity folios helped increase overall base go up to 4.44 crore in September, from 4.17 crore at the end of March.

MFs are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors and invest in stocks, bonds and money market instruments, among others.