Mutual funds' growing heft

Maintaining the confidence shown by investors is crucial, as a single bad episode could spoil the party

The crossing of the Rs 50 trillion mark in net assets under management (AUM) by mutual funds (MFs) in India in December is a remarkable feat. Undoubtedly, over time, MFs have emerged as the most important institutional investor in the Indian capital market.

To begin with, let’s consider some broad statistics. The AUM of the MF industry grew over six-fold during the last 10 years, increasing from Rs 8.25 trillion on March 31, 2014, to Rs 50.77 trillion on December 31, 2023. Over the same period, the total number of investors (unique PANs) in MFs has shown a five-fold increase,