According to the latest SEBI data, the mutual fund industry has witnessed an addition of over 7 lakh folios in February. The AUM of the mutual funds industry rose to an all-time high of Rs.17.89 lakh crore in February.
This growth is largely because of increase in equity folios. SEBI data shows that equity funds have added 4 lakh folios in February. The folio count went up from 3.15 crore in January to 3.19 in February. Experts attributed this to rising number of SIP accounts. The MF industry has received inflows of Rs.4300 crore through SIP of which 99% is in equity funds. In February, equity funds have received inflows of 5465 crore.
ELSS funds have also witnessed a good traction in February due to tax season. The category has added over 2 lakh folio this month. AMFI data shows that ELSS has received net inflows of close to Rs.1000 crore in February.
Balanced funds continued the positive momentum by adding 1.09 lakh folios. The category received net inflows of Rs.4562 crore in February.
Folio Count as of February 2017 (in lakh)
Category |
Folio as on Jan 2017 |
Folio as on Feb 2017 |
Change |
Equity |
3.15 crore |
3.19 crore |
4 lakh |
ELSS |
79 lakh |
81 lakh |
2 lakh |
Balanced |
32 lakh |
33 lakh |
1 lakh |
ETFs |
5.7 lakh |
4.7 lakh |
-1 lakh |
Gold ETFs |
4 lakh |
4 lakh |
0 lakh |
Income Funds |
90 lakh |
91 lakh |
1 lakh |
Gilts |
1 lakh |
1 lakh |
0 lakh |
Liquid |
7.4 lakh |
7.6 lakh |
0.2 lakh |
Overseas FOFs |
1.12 lakh |
1.12 lakh |
0 lakh |
Total |
5.35 crore |
542.42 crore |
7.2 lakh |
Source: SEBI
ETFs, which track the equity indices, witnessed a drop in its folio count this month. The category has lost close to one lakh folios in February largely because of profit booking.
Barring ETFs, all other categories either saw a growth or remained flat in terms of folio count.
Overall, the MF industry has been witnessing a continuous increase in its folio count. In order to boost MF penetration, many awareness initiatives have been taken up by the fund houses.