At a time when the mutual fund industry is gaining significantly in terms of assets under management (AUM) and the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India offering incentive for generating AUM from beyond top 15 cities (B15), it was only natural to expect fund houses to substantially increase their branch presence across the country and thereby, enhance mutual fund penetration and provide direct services to retail investors.
However, data relating to the number of AMC branches in the country, collated from Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) website shows that there has been a net decline of 46 mutual fund branches across the country over the last one year. While the number of branches at the end of March 2015 stood at 1,594, it came down by around 3 per cent to 1,548 at the end of March 2016. This happened even as the industry witnessed growth and the average assets under management for the industry in the same period rose 14 per cent from Rs 11,88,690 crore to Rs 13,53,443 crore.
