Equity mutual fund AUM climbs 13% to Rs 3.45 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: Asset base of equity mutual funds (MFs) has surged 13 per cent to Rs 3.45 lakh crore at the end of March from a year ago on the back of retail investors pouring money into these schemes.

The industry's equity assets under management (AUM) rose to Rs 3.45 lakh crore last month, from Rs 3.05 lakh crore in March 2015, according to Association of Mutual Funds in India ( AMFI).

In February, the asset base of equity MFs stood at Rs 3.18 lakh crore.

Despite over nine per cent slump in the BSE benchmark Sensex in 2015-16, investors pumped in money into equity schemes.

Retail participation has shown a remarkable resilience to market volatility last fiscal year, Wealthforce.com Founder Siddhant Jain said.

In 2015-16, equity and equity-linked saving schemes have seen an infusion of over Rs 74,000 crore. However, many investors are shying away from gold as it continues to perform below par.

Gold ETFs have seen an outflow of Rs 903 crore during the period under review.

Inflow in equity schemes has helped the 43 mutual funds reach Rs 13.53 lakh crore in AUM at the end of last month from Rs 11.88 lakh crore in March 2015.

MFs are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors for the purpose of investing in stocks, bonds, money market instruments and the like.