Mutual fund assets rise by Rs 85,000 crore to Rs 8.78 lakh crore in 2013

The assets managed by mutual funds jumped by nearly Rs 85,000 crore or about 11 per cent to Rs 8.78 lakh crore in 2013, with HDFC MF retaining its top position.

The country's 44 fund houses together had an average AUM (Asset Under Management) of Rs 7,93,331 crore at the end of 2012, which increased to Rs 8,77,973 crore in 2013, as per latest data available with industry body AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India).

Fund houses are upbeat about an even better performance in 2014 on account of various measures initiated by market regulator Sebi as well as plans of individual players to expand the distribution network across the country, particularly to smaller cities.

The total AUM includes about Rs 5,777 crore managed through domestic funds.

Of the 44 fund houses, 26 saw their AUMs rise during the period, while 17 witnessed a decline. The registration of Daiwa MF has been cancelled by Sebi following the transfer of its schemes to SBI MF.

Among the large funds, ICICI Prudential MF was the biggest gainer followed by Reliance MF, while HDFC MF saw the smallest growth.

In terms of total funds, HDFC MF managed to retain the top slot, followed by Reliance MF and ICICI Prudential.

HDFC MF had an average AUM of about Rs 1.09 lakh crore at the end of 2013, a 7.5 per cent rise from the preceding year.

ICICI Prudential's AUM rose by an impressive over 19 per cent to Rs 97,200 crore, while Reliance MF's AUM climbed by 13 per cent to Rs 1.02 lakh crore. Besides, Reliance MF has surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore mark after a gap of two quarters.

Among the gainers mutual funds included - UTI, SBI, Axis, Baroda Pioneer, Birla Sun Life and Franklin Templeton.

However, Canara Robeco, Goldman Sachs, Edelweiss, IDBI, Indiabulls Mutual and Tata Mutual Fund, among others witnessed a decline in their AUMs from the levels seen in 2012.

Interestingly, 57 per cent of industry growth has been contributed by top five mutual fund houses, while Reliance MF and ICICI Prudential together provided 31 per cent of this increase.

In 2013, overall AUM increased on strong inflows in categories such as bonds and liquid funds, industry estimates show.

This was the second consecutive yearly rise in the MF industry AUM, after a drop in the assets base for two preceding years.