Mutual fund assets up Rs39,833 crore in January

The mutual fund industry saw an overall increase in assets under management of 9.4 per cent, or Rs39,833 crore, in January, with 22 of the 35 fund houses reporting growth in average AUM.

The total AUM of the country's 35 mutual fund houses have risen to Rs4,60,949 crore at the end of January, according to the data of the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

The gains were led by significant growth in debt funds, according to the fund evaluation and risk solutions provider Crisil FundServices.

Reliance Mutual Fund, the country's largest fund house, saw its AUM rise Rs5,960 crore in January to Rs76,168 core. HDFC MF remained the second big fund house with an addition of Rs4,663 crore in its AUM at Rs51,421 crore as of end-January.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund toppled state-run UTI MF as the third largest fund house of the country with an AUM of Rs47,515.51 crore, after adding Rs5,638 crore in a month.

While Reliance MF and ICICI Pru MF recorded maximum growth in asset in absolute terms, LIC MF and IDFC MF were at the top in terms of rate-of-growth.

"In terms of rate of growth, reflected in month-on-month growth percentage of average assets, LIC MF and IDFC MF were the leaders, registering 30 per cent and 29 per cent growth in average AUM respectively, between December 2008 and January 2009," Crisil said in report.

January 2009 also witnessed a 110 per cent increase in cash levels with MFs at Rs42,930 crore from Rs20,415 crore in December 2008.