Mutual Fund assets decline Rs15,631 crore in December

Volatility in the stock markets has led to a decline in assets managed by the mutual fund industry for the month of December. Total assets - excluding fund of funds – managed by the industry declined to Rs3,23,602 crore as at the end of the month from Rs3,39,233 crore as of end November 2006. The industry had Rs1,98,306 crore in assets under management as of December 2005.

Despite a sharp fall of Rs3,514 crore in assets from the previous month, UTI Mutual remained the biggest fund manager in the country. However, its lead over the closest competitor has narrowed. UTI had added more than Rs3,000 crore each to assets under management during the last two months.

Reliance MF added Rs2,291 crore for the month, mostly from a New Fund Offer, to reclaim the position of largest private sector fund manager. Prudential ICICI slipped to the second spot among private sector fund managers with a decline of Rs1,927 crore in assets for the month.

The worst performer among all find houses was LIC MF, which lost Rs4,882 crore during the month. LIC MF had added more than Rs4,000 crore to assets during the previous month. Other major losers were DSP Merrill Lynch, Kotak Mahindra, HSBC MF and Principal.