The country's mutual fund industry witnessed a nearly Rs 37,000 crore decline in its assets in the financial year 2008-09, with top fund house Reliance MF accounting for a little less than one-third of the losses.
The combined average assets under management (AUM) of the 35 fund houses in the country saw an erosion of Rs 36,798.58 crore, or 6.94 per cent, and dropped to Rs 4,93,286.56 crore at the end of March, according to the data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.
The average AUM had been Rs 5,30,085.15 crore at the end of March in 2008.
Reliance Mutual Fund was the biggest loser and recorded losses to the tune of Rs 9,975 crore, accounting for nearly a third of the industry's loss. However, it remained the top fund house in the country with an AUM of Rs 80,962.94 crore at the end of March this year.
While the industry lost nearly seven per cent in the last financial year, some fund houses defied market trend and registered an increase in their AUMs.
Of the 35 fund houses, seven registered gains totalling Rs 36,499.73 crore.
Among the top five fund houses, HDFC MF and LIC MF registered a rise of Rs 13,183.28 crore and Rs 9,036.21 crore, respectively, while the other four — Reliance MF, ICICI Prudential, UTI MF and LIC MF — lost a combined over Rs 13,093 crore from their assets.
At the end of March, HDFC MF -- the second biggest fund house in the country -- had its AUM at Rs 57,956.45 crore, followed by ICICI Prudential MF at Rs 51,432.50 crore. Besides, UTI MF reported an asset base of Rs 48,754.17 crore, followed by LIC MF at Rs 23,092.37 crore.
Analysts believe the volatile stock market conditions have wiped out the assets of the fund houses as investors turned jittery about making any fresh investment commitments.
The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex has plunged 38 per cent year-on-year from 15,644.40 points in March 2008, to 9,700 levels in March 2009.
Other fund houses which saw additions to their assets include Birla Sunlife MF, Canara Rebeco MF and Kotak Mahindra MF, with a rise of Rs 11,190.18 crore, Rs 1,858.81 crore and Rs 133.41 crore respectively in their AUMs.
Fidelity MF, SBI MF and Taurus MF emerged as the other big losers during the financial year 2008-09.
