MF Industry Raise Rs 3.55 Lakh Crore In Feb '07

The mutual fund industry mobilised Rs 3.55 lakh crore of assets under management (AUM) in February 2007, of which Fund of Funds (FoFs) accounted for Rs 2311 crore. This was higher than what fund houses managed in January 2007 - Rs 3.41 lakh crore in all. Of this, FoFs made up Rs 2539 crore.
Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund emerged as the country's largest fund house, displacing Reliance Mutual from its first position, end February 2007. Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund topped the charts with Rs 43280 crore of AUM - a rise of 24.6% over January 2007. This is clearly more than what the Reliance Mutual Fund managed: Rs 42215 crore in February 2007 (a rise of 8.2% over January 2007).

Occupying the third and fourth slots were UTI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund, which had AUM of Rs 38603 crore and Rs 31080 crore, respectively. UTI Mutual Fund has come down from first position in December 2006 to second in January 2007, which further slipped to third in February 2007. HDFC mutual Fund has maintained its position. The pecking order in the asset management industry in January 2007 was in favour of Reliance Mutual Fund, which had Rs 39019 crore under management. UTI Mutual Fund, the then second position holder, had 37535 crore AUM. Pru ICICI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund followed, with AUM of Rs 34745.73 crore and Rs 31424 crore, respectively.

For UTI Mutual Fund, the kitty has been shrinking if the end-November tally is considered. It had then topped the league tables with as much as Rs 41622 crore AUM. Thereafter Reliance Mutual Fund topped the first position in January 2007 and then ICICI Prudential mopped the first position in February 2007 dragging UTI Mutual Fund to third position after Reliance Mutual Fund, which was actually the third-largest player.

Considering the latest scores, the list of prominent fund houses includes Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (Rs 22102 crore), Birla Sun Life (Rs 21070 crore) and SBI Mutual Fund (Rs 18473 crore). While Franklin Templeton Mutual and Birla Mutual Fund have reduced their asset base (end-January: Rs 23907crore and Rs 21189 crore respectively), SBI Mutual Fund has substantially added to their kitty. SBI Mutual Fund had AUM of Rs 17552 crore ends January 2007.

Among the smaller players in the industry are Quantum Mutual Fund (Rs 53 crore), Escorts Mutual Fund (Rs 119 crore), BOB Mutual Fund (Rs 132 crore), Sahara Mutual Fund (Rs 175 crore) and newcomer Lotus India Mutual Fund (Rs 1238 crore). Some of the other fund houses, each with less than Rs 5000 crore AUM, are Canbank Mutual Fund, DBS Chola Mutual Fund, ING Vysya and Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund. StanChart Mutual Fund, which UBS Global Asset Management recently agreed to acquire in India, closed February 2007 with Rs 12997 crore - marginally higher than Rs 12745 crore it had in end-January 2007.

Out of the 30 mutual funds, twelve registered a fall in their AUM in February 2007 over January 2007, when 9 fund houses witnessed a fall in their AUM. The top three funds witnessing a fall in their AUM included Benchmark Mutual Fund (18.8%), Taurus Mutual Fund (9.8%), and Quantum Mutual Fund (8.9%).

In terms of percentage rise, Lotus India Mutual Fund clocked the first position with an increase of 91.4% in its AUM in February 2007 compared with January 2007. It was followed by Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund, witnessing a rise of 24.6%.