UTI Mutual Fund, the third largest fund house in the country, is planning to tap more lucrative foreign markets. UTI MF will set up a subsidiary in Singapore and open branches in Europe and the Gulf region.

The fund house, which made a successful foray in Japan, said it is also open to forging partnerships in Europe and Asia.

UTI MF''s tie-up with Japan''s Shinsei Bank had collected $400 million in six months against the target of $100 million, reports quoting its chairman and managing director U K Sinha said.

UTI MF said it would open its subsidiary in Singapore within two months for which it has received the necessary approvals. The mutual fund will also open branches in Dubai, Bahrain and London shortly.

The mutual fund hopes to finalise at least two partnerships within the next 3-4 months. Details as to whether the investments should be segment -based or broad-based are yet to be decided, UTI MF said.

Meanwhile, total assets of the mutual fund industry in the country crossed Rs350,000 crore for the first time even as Reliance Mutual Fund retained the top slot in terms of assets under management, according to the latest figures.

As per data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), total assets of mutual funds grew by 7.44 per cent to Rs3,50,44,143 crore as of end-April, up from Rs3,26,170.66 crore in end-March.

Reliance MF topped the list with assets of Rs48,828.03 crore, followed by ICICI Prudential (Rs42,267.85 crore), UTI MF (Rs35,517.00 crore), HDFC MF (Rs31,485.15 crore) and Franklin Templeton (Rs24,509.99 crore).