Sahara MF AUM drops 70% as investors flee troubled group

NEW DELHI: The assets under management (AUM) of the Sahara Mutual Fund dropped by 70% during the quarter ended 30 September as panicky investors pulled out of the troubled group.

In August, the Sahara Group was directed by the Supreme Court to refund more than Rs 17,400 crore raised from roughly 22 million small investors.

Sahara Mutual Fund's AUM came down from Rs 787.17 crore on 30 June to Rs 238.44 crore on 30 September, according to the latest figures released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India ( Amfi).

While the overall AUM of the industry rose 7.8% to Rs 7,53,806.01 crore during the quarter, some other fund houses also saw their AUMs come down. Edelweiss Mutual Fund's AUM slipped 19.4% to Rs 306.5 crore during the quarter. Pramerica Mutual Fund's AUM came down 17% to Rs 1,978 crore and BNP Paribas Mutual Fund's AUM receded 16% to Rs 3,841.99 crore.

Apart from this, there were not too many surprises in the figures released by Amfi. HDFC Mutual Fund retained its primary position with an AUM of Rs 98,070.87 crore, followed by Reliance Mutual Fund (Rs 88,626.23 crore), ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (Rs 76,500.64 crore) and Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (Rs 72,979.23 crore).

The UTI Mutual Fund was the biggest gainer during the quarter, with its AUM rising by Rs 9,860 crore to Rs 70,782 crore. This was a 16% increase in its AUM. The most noteworthy comeback was staged by JP Morgan Mutual Fund.

After a drop of more than 17% in its AUM in the March-June quarter, the fund witnessed a sharp 70% rise in AUM in the July-September quarter. Its AUM rose by Rs 3,708 crore to touch Rs 8,989 crore during the quarter.