Reliance, Pru-ICICI both claim No 1 in MF

The race for the top slot in the Indian mutual fund league table has taken an interesting turn. On Friday, after the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) released data on assets under management (AUM) for February, Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund (Pru-I MF) and Reliance Mutual Fund both staked claim for the number one spot among asset managers who now collectively manage Rs 3.5 lakh crore. The industry has grown about 70% last year. Both the funds have their own reason to do so. For long, the mutual fund industry has considered AUM at the end of every month to decide rankings. However, in September 2006, industry association AMFI asked funds to disclose average daily AUM for each month, along with month-end AUM numbers. AMFI's rationale was that average AUM was a better yardstick for measuring growth of fund houses. On Friday, at Rs 43,281 crore Pru-I MF had the highest month-end AUM for February. On this yardstick Reliance MF, with an AUM of Rs 42,210 crore, trailed Pru-I MF. But on average AUM, Reliance MF at Rs 43,587 crore was ahead of Pru-I MF's Rs 39,079 crore. In a statement, Pru-I MF said that in February the fund house had mobilised Rs 8,535 crore to achieve this (top slot) milestone. Pankaj Razdan, MD of the fund house said that more than the position, it was the asset management company's consistent and sustained efforts to offer its customers an overall experience, keeping in mind the regulatory framework, that mattered. This is the second time that Pru-I MF has topped the league table. In June 2006, it had a slight lead over UTIMF in terms of month-end AUM. Reliance MF, which too claimed the top position, said that its higher average AUM was reflective of its consistent growth of business and customer acquisition. "Average AUM is an AMFI yardstick to measure consistent growth performance," said Vikrant Gugnani, president, Reliance MF. On its part, it was only in January that Reliance MF had replaced UTIMF as the largest fund house in terms of AUM, both average as well as month-end.

SOURCE : THE TIMES OF INDIA