Record high! Mutual fund AUM cross ₹50 lakh crore milestone, reveals AMFI data

The mutual fund industry achieved a significant milestone of ₹50 lakh crore assets under management (AUM) in the month of December 2023, the AMFI data released on Monday showed. What is awe-inspiring is that it took barely 13 months to take the overall AUM from ₹40 lakh crore to ₹50 lakh crore.

Mutual Fund folios reached an all-time high of 16,48,90,272 in December 2023 while the SIP (systematic investment plan) contribution touched ₹17,610.16 crore.

“While the MF industry took almost 50 years to build the first ₹10 lakh crores of AUM, the last ₹10 lakh crores, from ₹40 lakh crores to ₹50 lakh crores was amassed in just over a year. The entire mutual fund industry in India including the AMCs and the Regulator have put in focused efforts to reach investors across the country with support from the MF distributors,” said Venkat Chalasani, Chief Executive of Association of Mutual Funds in India.

He further added, “The more encouraging aspect is the constant retail participation in a disciplined manner through the systematic investment planning (SIP) route. The B30 locations have instilled a new drive in the MF investment and the distributor fraternity has been working towards deeper financial inclusion.”

Navneet Munot, Chairman of AMFI, commented on this milestone, saying, "We are elated to announce the achievement of ₹50 lakh crore AUM, which is a testament to the trust that investors place in the Indian Mutual Fund Industry. On this momentous achievement, we would like to thank and congratulate the regulator, SEBI, all our distributors and investment advisers, all MF industry stakeholders, our member AMCs and above all, the mutual fund investors. The mutual fund Industry is geared up for the next growth milestone of ₹100 Lakh Crores AUM and 10 crore investors.”

The ‘Mutual Fund Sahi Hai’ investor awareness campaign run by AMFI under the aegis of SEBI has led to increased awareness and acceptance of mutual funds as an investment option of choice.

On the upbeat figures of mutual fund investment, Viraj Gandhi, CEO, SAMCO Mutual Fund, says: "Indian markets ended the year on a high with December 2023 witnessing the Santa Claus rally. FPIs joined the party with retail investors leading to positive returns for all major indices and creating new all time highs."

Moving forward

The mutual fund industry body AMFI believes that the industry is geared up to surpass the ₹100 lakh crore AUM mark by the turn of the decade.

Achieving this growth will require an increase in the investor base from 4.21 crore to 10 crore investors. AMFI will follow three distinct categories of market expansion that will be essential to achieve this target - Distribution outreach, inclusion of middle-income households through simplification and digitalisation and higher wallet share of household savings.

The industry’s AUM crossed the milestone of ₹10 lakh crore for the first time at the end of May 2014 and in a short span of about three years, the AUM size had increased more than two folds and crossed ₹20 lakh crore for the first time in August 2017.

The AUM size crossed ₹30 lakh crore for the first time in November 2020. And the industry’s AUM topped ₹40 lakh crore for the first time in November 2022.

The AUM, which took 24 months to go from ₹30 lakh crore to ₹40 lakh crore, added the next ₹10 lakh crore in half the time, as it touched ₹50 lakh crore in the month of December 2023.

At the end of Dec 2023 with ₹50 lakh crore mark in AUM, the mutual fund industry has witnessed growth of ₹40 lakh crore in 9 years.