Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) has stated that mutual funds are working hard to increase retail investor participation above the record Rs 10-trillion mark in assets under management (AUMs), which was achieved for the first time in May, 2014. Significant numbers of retail participation has been witnessed in equity schemes in the previous month and AMFI’s effort to reach out to the retail segment and locations beyond Tier 2 and 3 towns has started showing results.
The retail participation has increased as more investors are opting for systematic investment plans (SIPs). According to the AMFI, the AUMs of Mutual fund players surged to Rs 10.11 trillion in May from Rs 9.45 trillion in April. While, there has been a 1 percentage point increase in retail participation from beyond top 15 (B-15) towns with the industry seeing net inflows from these geographies since November (barring March). Of 7,00,000 SIP folios opened in FY14, 53 percent came from B-15 towns.
Meanwhile, Reliance Mutual Fund’s 100 percent equity funds have outperformed the benchmark indices in the last six-month period. Also, 99.7 percent of the 18 equity funds managed by the company have outperformed the corresponding benchmark indices in the past one year.