The going has been tough for HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. Last year, it was toppled from the top spot by its closest competitor, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd, after spending nearly 5 years being the largest fund house in the Indian mutual funds industry, between 2011 and 2016. Its two largest and marque equity schemes also went through a rough patch for long though they now seem to be recovering. To be fair, all fund houses go through cycles. The fund house’s managing director Milind Barve spoke to Mint Money about how HDFC AMC aims to recover its lost ground. Edited excerpts:
Despite volatile markets, and commissions being capped, investors invested in mutual funds all through 2016. Do you think investors are maturing?
Yes, investors are investing in mutual funds because they are catching up on their under allocation in equities. From 2014 onwards, investors have started to realise how underinvested they were in equities as historically they have favoured physical assets like gold and real estate, compared to equities. It is almost a behavioural change setting in. Inflows that are coming into equity markets are not a short-term reaction; we are witnessing positive flows for the past 30 months in running. I recall in the past when equity markets were volatile, investors would either redeem or stop investing.
