90% MF investors are lakhpatis: Govt

Over 90% mutual fund investors have a yearly income between Rs.1 lakh and 1 crore. These investors account for 65% of the retail AUM, the government said in Lok Sabha on Monday.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Finance, there are 1.36 lakh individual mutual fund investors with income of over Rs.1 crore. They account for 31% of the total industry AUM.

Overall, there are over 1.86 crore unique investors in the MF industry.

The data of individual investors is as on October 31, 2021 and provided to the ministry by SEBI. The ministry said the information captures data of Statement of Account holders only.

Data shared by government:

The data pegs the total number of unique investors at 1.86 crore and the individual AUM at Rs.32 lakh crore. The data released by AMFI, which also includes corporate accounts, is much higher. According to AMFI's October release, the industry AUM was Rs.38 lakh crore and the number of unique investors was 2.7 crore.

The ministry observed that over the past few years, the penetration of mutual funds in B-30 locations has gone up. "Total AUM from B-30 cities has grown by 86% from Rs.3.48 lakh crore in the year 2019-20 to Rs.6.46 lakh crore in 2021-22 (till October 31, 2021) while the total AUM of the mutual fund industry has grown only by 68% during the same time period. There has also been an increase in the number of systematic investment plans (SIPs) from the B – 30 cities," the ministry said.

Further, the government highlighted the initiatives taken by SEBI to enhance the reach of mutual funds. "SEBI has taken a number of regulatory initiatives for ensuring investor protection, integrity of the market, and for enhancing operational efficiency, market penetration and deepening of the mutual funds industry beyond the top 30 cities," the government said.