The Hindu Business Line : Income schemes dominate MF asset base

THE gap between equity and debt assets managed by mutual funds remains as significant as ever, with income schemes managing close to Rs 70,000 crore, an overwhelming portion of the industry's total asset base of Rs 1,45,373 crore.

Figures for end-January supplied by the Association of Mutual Funds in India indicate once again that open-ended income schemes, with Rs 68,973 crore in their kitty, constitute the single-largest category of funds. Close-end income schemes managed a minuscule Rs 242 crore, with assured return income products accounting for merely Rs 105 crore.

Liquid and money market schemes, whose assets stood at Rs 40,112 crore as on January 31, made up the second-biggest category, while growth-oriented equity schemes had Rs 23,143 crore under their management. This included Rs 21,651 crore managed by open-ended growth funds.

Gilt funds had Rs 6,617 crore with them, and ELSS (equity-linked savings schemes, better known as tax-saving schemes) products manage Rs 1,776 crore. In the ELSS category, the close-ended variety manages Rs 1,235 crore.

The AMFI figures also underline the pecking order of MFs in terms of assets. UTI MF is the clear leader, with three fund houses operating with more than Rs 15,000 crore each. The No. 1 player has Rs 19,661 crore under management, followed by Templeton (Rs 15,994 crore), Prudential ICICI (Rs 15,673 crore) and HDFC (Rs 15,320 crore).

The middle ground is occupied by the likes of Birla Sun Life (Rs 9,641 crore), Reliance (Rs 7,028 crore) and Standard Chartered (Rs 8,021 crore). These are followed by players like Principal (Rs 3,656 crore) and DSP Merrill Lynch (Rs 5,475 crore). At the other end of the spectrum are Benchmark (Rs 63 crore), Credit Capital (Rs 155 crore), Escorts (Rs 123 crore) and PNB (Rs 138 crore). Incidentally, IL&FS MF, which is expected to be taken over by UTI MF, has Rs 2,580 crore under management.