MF industry added 30 lakh equity folios last fiscal

Overall, the mutual fund industry added 36 lakh new folios.

FY 2014-15 saw renewed interest of investors for equity funds. Thanks to the market rally and stellar performance of equity funds, equity funds have seen an average addition of 2.54 lakh new folios each month in April-March 2015, shows the latest SEBI data. The industry has added over 30 lakh equity folios last fiscal.

Advisers say that new fund launches coupled with new SIP registrations in existing funds has led to an increase in equity folios. Also, the stellar performance of equity funds has been the key reason for the revival in investor interest. Over a one year period, mid and small cap funds delivered 73% absolute return, followed by infrastructure funds (58%) and multi cap funds (52%), shows Value Research data.

The industry has attracted inflows of over Rs. 71,000 crore in equity funds in FY 2014-15, shows AMFI data.  As a result, the total AAUM of equity mutual funds (including ELSS) has reached an all-time high at Rs.3.45 lakh crore in March 2015.

The total investor count in equity funds now stands at 3.16 crore.

Balanced Funds

While balanced funds category has delivered good returns over a one year period (40% absolute), the folio count in this category has dropped by 5.58 lakh in FY 2014-15. The total folios in balanced funds dipped from 25.48 lakh in March 2014 to 19.90 lakh in March 2015.

Gold ETFs

Gold ETF folios dipped by 23,633 from 4.89 lakh to 4.65 lakh last fiscal. Gold ETF has been the worst performing category, delivering negative 7% return over a one year period, shows Value Research data.

ETFs, which track the equity indices, are increasingly getting popular among retail investors. Folio count in this category has risen by 39,430 from 1.94 lakh to 2.33 lakh in FY 2014-15.  

Overseas fund of funds

This category is seeing continuous erosion in folios. Folios in ‘overseas fund of funds’ category dropped by 21,739. Value Research data shows that the category has delivered a paltry 3% return over a one year period. Barring a few US funds, most of the funds have delivered lackluster performance.

Debt 

Debt funds have also seen good traction as the total folio count in debt funds has increased by 10.3 lakh in FY 2014-15. Distributors say that accrual funds have seen good traction among retail investors.

All in all, the mutual fund industry has added close to 36 lakh folios in FY 2014-15. Clearly, with the optimism surrounding the market, the industry is likely to attract fresh inflows in the coming months as well.