INDIA GROWTH :MF industry assets touch Rs 7.5L crore

Mumbai/Chennai: The mutual fund (MF) industry has shown a 42% growth in average assets under management (AUM) in the last one year, while in August it grew by about 8% to its highest ever AUM level of Rs 7.5 lakh crore. While industry players admitted that most of the growth came from strong inflows in debt, liquid and money market schemes, 12 of the 35 fund houses saw their AUM grow by over 50% since September 2008—more than the industry average—data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.      One of the discernible traits among a host of fund houses that showed strong growth was either a complete change in management, coming on board of a new partner or some major changes at the top over the last two years.      Among the top 10 fund houses by percentage growth over the last one year, IDFC MF and Religare MF saw complete change of management, Baroda Pioneer MF saw a new partner—Pioneer—coming on board, while Taurus MF, DBS Chola MF and Birla Sun Life MF saw new teams at the top. The exceptions were Kotak MF, HDFC MF and UTI MF—all of which showed over 65% growth based on their own inherent strengths.      Speaking to TOI, Naval Bir Kumar, MD, IDFC MF said the fund house tried to analyse how the growth came and found three main factors that helped it grow since a change of management in June 2008. "The IDFC brand name generated trust among investors. Secondly, the strong focus on our limited number of schemes and their consistent performance even during trying times a few months ago helped us retain our investors,'' Kumar said. "IDFC MF's strong asset quality, including its FMPs, also helped it grow,'' Kumar added. For Birla Sun Life MF, the 67% growth in average AUM since September 2008 came after a new management led by Ajay Srinivasan took over at the helm of affairs for all of Aditya Birla group's financial services business about two years ago.      Religare MF on the other hand took over the assets of Lotus MF in November 2008 when it was facing huge assetliability mismatch and redemption pressure in its FMPs.