Mutual funds increase cash allocation by Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 1.87 lakh crore in December

The cash pile of mutual funds increased by Rs 6,937 crore on a monthly basis, from Rs 1.80 lakh crore in November to Rs 1.87 lakh crore in December. The cash allocation as a percentage of total AUM was 4.98% in November, rising to 5.17% in December 2024. The total equity AUM in December was recorded at Rs 36.29 lakh crore.

Among the 43 fund houses, five had over Rs 10,000 crore in cash in their portfolios. SBI Mutual Fund, the largest fund house, had the highest cash allocation in its portfolio in December, amounting to Rs 31,767 crore, which was 4.61% of its total AUM.

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HDFC Mutual Fund had Rs 25,248 crore in cash in its portfolio, representing 6.74% of its total AUM. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund held Rs 23,477 crore in cash, followed by PPFAS Mutual Fund with Rs 8,247 crore. Axis Mutual Fund had Rs 15,052 crore in cash, which accounted for 7.69% of its total AUM.

Kotak Mutual Fund and Quant Mutual Fund had Rs 6,677 crore and Rs 6,010 crore cash respectively in December. Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund had Rs 4,914 crore cash in the portfolio which was 3.30% of the total AUM.

Around five mutual funds had less than Rs 1,000 crore in cash in their respective portfolios. Edelweiss Mutual Fund and Bank of India Mutual Fund held Rs 741 crore and Rs 650 crore in cash, respectively, in their portfolios.

Old Bridge Mutual Fund and Trust Mutual Fund had Rs 133 crore and Rs 108 crore in cash, respectively, in their portfolios. Groww Mutual Fund had a cash allocation of Rs 67.20 crore, followed by Helios Mutual Fund with Rs 64.44 crore. In December, NJ Mutual Fund had Rs 12.84 crore in cash in its portfolio.

In terms of percentage, PPFAS Mutual Fund had the highest cash allocation as a percentage of AUM, at 19.82%, followed by Samco Mutual Fund, whose cash allocation was 18.94% of the total AUM.

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The cash allocation as a percentage of total AUM was the lowest for NJ Mutual Fund, at 0.57%.

SBI Mutual Fund had the highest equity AUM of Rs 6.57 lakh crore in December, followed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund with an equity AUM of Rs 3.77 lakh crore during the same period. Shriram Mutual Fund had the lowest equity AUM, at Rs 367 crore, in the said period.

Fund managers are allowed to keep a portion of their portfolio in cash to manage events like redemptions or to make investments when they see potential market opportunities.