FMP outflows drag down MFs’ assets

Massive outflows in fixed maturity plans (FMP) and liquid schemes have resulted in a steep fall in assets under management (AUMs) of fund houses in October. FMPs, which constitute nearly a quarter of the total AUM industry, witnessed panic redemption following concerns about the credit quality of debt papers held by these schemes. Reliance Mutual Fund has retained its numero uno position, but its average AUM of Rs 71,093 crore is down 18% over the previous month, and is back to levels seen in September last year. This fund house had seen its AUM cross Rs 1 lakh crore in April this year. HDFC, which had earlier displaced ICICI Prudential as the second-largest fund house, reported an average AUM of Rs 45,479 crore for October, down 12.5% over the previous month. The third-largest AMC, ICICI Prudential, is yet to disclose its asset position for the month. Other fund houses that have reported steep decline in AUMs include AIG Global (-44.2%), Canara Robeco (-33.6%), Lotus India (-31.2%), Principal AMC (-29.7%), Deutsche AMC (-28.4%) and DBS Cholamandalam (-25.5%). Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund and Unit Trust of India too are yet to disclose their average AUM for October.