New Delhi: Individual investors enhanced their assets base by 32 percent over the last nine months of the current fiscal year to Rs 5.24 lakh crore.
Data from the Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) shows, “Individual investors held Rs 5.24 lakh crore in mutual funds as of December 2014, an increase of 31.68 per cent over March 2014.” These individuals’ assets have mainly come from the top 15 locations and are primarily distributor driven.
AMFI said, “About 72 percent of the assets of individual investors are from top 15 cities, brought in by distributors.” Together, all 45 mutual fund houses manage assets worth over Rs 11 lakh crore. Industry insiders said the key contributing factors for the increase in individual investors’ asset base was an uptick in sentiments and expectations of an investor-friendly and reforms-oriented government delivering on policy changes.
Most of the money was pumped in equity oriented schemes, which was supported by a sharp rally in stock markets. The growth in assets base is in line with the BSE’s benchmark Sensex surging by 23 percent in the first nine months of the current financial year. Moreover, there are about 4.03 crore investor accounts, or folios, of which 99 percent is accounted by individual investors.