MFs asset drops 3.55% in December to Rs 7.78 lakh cr

NEW DELHI: The average assets under management of the country's mutual fund industry dropped to Rs 7.78 lakh crore at the end of December, much below the Rs eight-lakh crore mark it had scaled in the previous month.

The industry's average Asset Under Management (AUM) fell by Rs 28,645 crore or 3.55 per cent during the said month. The combined average AUM of the 35 fund houses stood at Rs 7,78,901 crore at the end of December, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data showed.

Reliance MF maintained its top position as the country's largest fund house with an AUM of Rs 1,19,982 crore during the month, despite losing Rs 2,271 crore from its assets.

Reliance MF was followed by the country's second largest fund house HDFC MF's AUM that witnessed a hefty erosion of Rs 5,216 crore.

HDFC MF, which saw its AUM in November cross the Rs 1- lakh crore mark, had average assets worth Rs 97,184 crore at December end.

The AUM of UTI MF also fell by Rs 1,691.78 crore during December to Rs 78,203.44 crore.

The country's third largest fund house, ICICI Prudential MF, was one of the 10 fund houses that saw its AUM grow by Rs 293 crore during the month to Rs 82,432.25 crore.

Marketmen said despite a modest over three per cent gain in the equity markets during December, withdrawal pressure of the corporate houses at the end of the quarter had led to outflow from various schemes.

Besides, ICICI Pru, other fund houses which saw their average AUM rising in December include LIC MF, Canara Robeco MF, Franklin Templeton and Kotak Mahindra MF.

The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer Sensex in December surged by 3.58 per cent to 17,464.81 points mark amid volatile trading witnessed across the global markets.

Two fund houses, Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund and Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund, are yet to disclose their monthly AUM figures.

Other fund houses that saw a decline in their assets include Birla Sunlife MF, Deutsche MF, AIG Global Investment MF and Fidelity MF.