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Mumbai, Nov. 2 Assets under the management (AUM) of mutual funds on October end have crossed the Rs 5 lakh crore mark, with the portfolio recording a figure of Rs 5,56,729 crore as of the last day. The asset base increased by Rs 79,750 crore over the previous month, giving it a growth rate of roughly 17 per cent month on month.

The industry controlled Rs 4,76,979 crore in AUM as of September end. The growth rate in October is also the third highest in the current fiscal with the highest rate being recorded in the month of July. The latest increase is however on an expanded asset base.

“The increase in the AUM can be attributed to the appreciation in the Net Asset Value and the index, which has grown by around 15 per cent in the last month,” said Mr Gopal Agarwal, Senior Fund Manager, Mirae Asset Management. He also acknowledged the contribution of monies raised by new schemes floated during the month. “There were some good NFO’s in the past month, which have increased the value of AUM and in addition, there were less redemptions this month which have contributed to this growth,” he said.

Reliance Mutual Fund led the pack with the highest AUM of Rs 79,973 crore followed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund whose asset base swelled by 11 per cent to Rs 56,212 crore. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund too increased its asset base to Rs 33,706 crore thereby surpassing Franklin Templeton’s asset base of Rs 32,041 crore. “The growth was on the back of strong performance of our various schemes and a collection of almost Rs 1,300 crore in our recent NFO,” said Mr A. Balasubramaniam, Chief Investment Officer, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

Among funds with a minimum AUM in excess of Rs 10,000 crore, Deutsche Mutual Fund registered an increase of 107 per cent since April 2007. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund grew by almost 81 per cent during the same period. LIC Mutual Fund and Kotak Mutual Fund were the other consistent top performers, with both registering an 80 per cent growth rate.

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