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The gradually reviving equity markets helped the mutual fund industry AUM climb 2.4 per cent in the month of February.
According to data on the AMFI Web site, the total assets under management (AUM) of the industry stood at Rs 6.75 lakh crore at the end of February 2012.
At end January the total AUM was Rs 6.59 lakh crore. However, the month-on-month increase in the AUM from December 2011 to January 2012 was to the tune of Rs 47,751 crore or 7.8 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, the AUM was down 4.6 per cent.
Uptrend & valuations
“There has been a significant uptrend in the equity markets which could have led to increased inflows into the schemes. Also, the valuations have moved up pushing up the AUM further,” said Mr Debasish Mallick, Managing Director and Chief Executive Director, IDBI Asset Management.
The AUM under equity schemes increased by 3.3 per cent as opposed to a 11.4 per cent increase from December to January. But fund house officials are not perturbed as they feel that the improved performance of the equity markets would bring in newer investors.
Prominent category
The category which saw the highest increase in AUM was the liquid or money market instruments at 6.5 per cent to Rs. 1.57 lakh crore. This category usually sees inflows as this is where corporations and institutions park their short-term money.
Gold ETFs, which were the most popular of all schemes last year, grew by around two per cent due to lower growth in gold prices as well as the appreciation of the rupee. The value of gold is calculated in dollar terms. Therefore, appreciating dollar-value led to a sharp rise in gold prices which was reflected in the AUM of the gold ETFs last year.
Calendar year 2011 saw the AUM under gold ETFs increase by 155.6 per cent. But now with the appreciation of the Indian rupee, the rise in gold prices has not been that steep; this has impacted the valuation of gold ETFs negatively. Therefore, any increase in the AUM of the gold ETFs could be attributed to an increase in volume growth, say analysts.
Equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS) saw an increase of around 4.3 per cent in AUM owing to their popularity as a tax-saving scheme. ELSS is exempt under Section 80(C).
sneha.p@thehindu.co.in
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