A recent AMFI study finds that individual investors, which include both HNIs and retail investors, hold Rs8.52 lakh crore in mutual funds as of March 2017, an increase of 38% in a year.
The assets managed by the Indian mutual fund industry have grown from Rs13.55 lakh crore in March 2016 to Rs18.58 lakh crore in March 2017, a 37.09% growth. The rate of growth in individual assets is therefore more than that of the industry in percentage terms.
The study observes that Individual assets have come mainly from the top 15 cities. Most of the investments were made through the distribution channel. “Almost 64% of the assets of individual investors are from T15 cities, brought in by distributors. Direct investments amount to 13% of individual assets, divided as 2% from B15 and 11% from T15,” the study says.
It further revealed that while the distributor channel is the most preferred for investment in equity and debt oriented schemes, investors from both T15 and B15 cities go for the direct route to invest in ETFs and FOFs.
The study also says that about 25% of assets held by individual investors is from the B15 locations. The share of B15 assets held by individuals has increased, it says.