Mutual Fund assets reclaim Rs 12 trillion mark: Crisil

The country's mutual fund industry's assets under management (AUM) rose by 1.4 percent in May to reclaim the Rs 12 trillion mark and close at its record-high as per the latest numbers declared by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), rating agency Crisil has said.

The increase was primarily propelled by inflows in equity and income funds. Outflows in liquid funds, though, capped further gains, the agency said in a statement.

Equity funds category logged inflows for the 13th consecutive month in May, with Rs 100.76 billion flowing in, it added.

Cumulatively, the category has seen inflows of Rs 918.49 billion over the 13-month period. Equity funds' AUM rose 5.8 percent, or Rs 200.37 billion, to a record-high of Rs 3.65 trillion in May, buoyed by higher inflows and mark to market (MTM) gains.

Although ridden with volatility, the market as represented by the CNX Nifty gained 3.1 percent in May, after the benchmark fell 3.7 percent and 4.6 percent, in April and March, respectively, it said.

Positive sentiment for equity funds rubbed off onto balanced funds, which attracted net inflows of Rs 12.02 billion in May, marking the 12th consecutive month of gains.

The category's AUM went up 6.4 percent, or Rs 17.34 billion, to a new high of Rs 287.49 billion, it added.

Inflows of Rs 8.75 billion helped gilt funds' AUM boast a new high of Rs 156.52 billion. Income funds' AUM rose 1.5 percent to Rs 5.22 trillion, led by inflows of Rs 42.05 billion, it said.

Net outflows of Rs 156.57 billion in liquid funds capped gains in the industry's overall AUM. The category's AUM dropped 4.8 percent to Rs 2.54 trillion, it added.

Gold exchange traded funds' AUM fell 1.9 percent to Rs 66.88 billion due to net outflows of Rs 0.86 billion and MTM losses. The price of gold, represented by the Crisil Gold Index, fell 0.3 percent in May, it said.