ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has regained its second spot in the list of asset under management as of April-end toppling HDFC MF. Interestingly, SBI Mutual Fund with AUM of ₹5.04 lakh crore retained its numero uno position.
ICICI Pru MF recorded an AUM of ₹4.13 lakh crore while HDFC MF’s stood at ₹4.08 lakh crore last month. Previously, the difference between ICICI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual was just ₹1,000 crore.
Aditya Biral Sun Life Mutual Fund, which is gearing up to get listed on the stock exchange, has occupied the fourth position with an AUM of₹2.66 lakh crore while Kotak MF ranked fifth.
All-round focus helps ICICI
The focus on safe bets across debt, equity and hybrid schemes over the past one year has helped ICICI MF regain its position.
In fact, the fund house came unscathed in the recent debt crisis that had rattled the mutual fund industry last year, said NS Satish, a Mumbai-based fund distributor.
Also the debt strategy to opt for AA-rated papers over AAA has helped in delivering positive investment experience for debt investors, he said.
Industry expands
Overall asset under management of mutual funds increased to ₹32.38 lakh crore last month against ₹31.42 lakh crore logged in March.
Recording the second consecutive month of positive inflow, mutual funds recorded a net inflow of ₹3,437 crore against ₹9,115 crore registered in March.
Akhil Chaturvedi, Head of Sales and Distribution, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, said the trend in equity market last month was interesting with foreign institutional investors turning net sellers and domestic institution investors buying.
Domestic investors showing faith in Indian equities in such times would benefit from allocations at attractive valuations, he added.
Inflows to hybrid funds
Interestingly, hybrid funds have logged an overall inflow of ₹8,640 crore with the arbitrage funds getting the highest inflow of ₹7,245 crore.
Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director, Morningstar India, said the volatility and intermittent corrections in the markets on the back of concerns over the intense second wave of Covid pandemic and its possible impact on the economy provided investors a good entry point in April.