Mutual funds increase cash allocation by over Rs 7,800 crore in July to Rs 1.90 lakh crore

Mutual funds increased their cash holdings by over Rs 7,856 crore to Rs 1.90 lakh crore in July, recovering from a 19-month low of Rs 1.83 lakh crore in June, according to ACE MF data.

Cash holdings accounted for 4.6% of total assets in July, while equity AUM stood at Rs 47.03 lakh crore.

In July 2026, six fund houses had over Rs 10,000 cash in their respective portfolios. PPFAS Mutual Fund had the highest cash reserve in its portfolio of Rs 25,291 crore in July, which was 16.32% of the total AUM. The fund house has three equity oriented based funds.


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Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund had the highest cash allocation of Rs 24,793 crore, followed by Parag Parikh ELSS Tax Saver Fund and Parag Parikh Large Cap Fund which had Rs 490 crore and Rs 7 crore cash respectively in July.

In a note to unit holders, Rajeev Thakkar, CIO and Director, PPFAS Mutual Fund that the cash allocation in the flexicap fund has fallen to around 14-15% from a peak of about 25%. He said, “Cash levels peaked at about 25%. They are down to about 14%-15% in Flexi Cap. We are increasingly finding opportunities to buy, and one may look forward to single digit cash levels in some time.”

He also explained the rationale behind maintaining higher cash levels during the previous two years. According to him, the cash position did not hurt investor returns and, at the margin, helped the portfolio during the sideways phase of the market.

SBI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund had Rs 24,415 crore and Rs 23,173 crore cash respectively in July. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund had Rs 21,159 crore cash in its portfolio, followed by Quant Mutual Fund which had Rs 14,739 crore cash in its portfolio.

Axis Mutual Fund had Rs 12,089 crore cash in its portfolio which was 5.82% of the total AUM in July.

Kotak Mutual Fund had Rs 5,242 crore cash in its portfolio, followed by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund which had Rs 5,097 crore cash. WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund and Canara Robeco Mutual Fund had Rs 3,335 crore and Rs 3,211 crore cash respectively in July.

Sunil Singhania led Abakkus Mutual Fund had 689 crore cash in its portfolio. Samco Mutual Fund and Quantum Mutual Fund had Rs 149 crore and Rs 139 crore cash respectively. JioBlackRock Mutual Fund had Rs 40.28 crore cash in its portfolio which was 0.87% of the total AUM.

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Cash holdings by SIFs

iSIF by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund had Rs 574 crore cash in its portfolio, the highest among all SIFs. QSIF by Quant Mutual Fund had Rs 308 crore cash, followed by Dyna SIF by 360 ONE Mutual Fund had Rs 124 crore cash in its portfolio.

On percentage basis

As a percentage to total AUM, PPFAS Mutual Fund had the highest cash allocation which was 16.32%, followed by Quant Mutual Fund which had 16.16% cash holding of the total AUM. WhiteOak Capital Mutual Fund had 11.56% cash holding as a percentage of total AUM.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

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