MUTUAL FUND AUM's JUMP 7%

The mutual fund industry posted its second consecutive month of gains by recording 7 per cent growth in average assets under management (AUM) to an all time high of Rs 8.90 lakh crore in November on the back of healthy inflows into liquid funds. "The rise in AUM was primarily due to inflows into liquid or money market funds," a Crisil report said. Meanwhile, equity funds' AUM also rose by 1per cent to Rs 1.75 lakh crore, making it the third monthly rise in a row. "The category saw inflows of Rs 700 crore in the month (highest in the past five months) compared to outflows of Rs 3,500 crore in the previous month," the report said. As per the report, money market funds saw net inflows of Rs 51,400 crore in November due to improved liquidity in the system and cyclical inflows. Similarly, assets under gilt funds rose 7 per cent to reach Rs 8,000 crore on the back of value buying. However, AUM under income funds witnessed outflows of Rs 3,300 crore to reach Rs 4.31 lakh crore due to redemption pressure as investors shunned long-term debt funds due to their under-performance. In the fixed maturity plans (FMPs) segment, there is continued inflows, the report noted. "Out of the 60 new fund offers (NFOs) from MFs during the month, FMPs accounted for as many as 54 new fund launches, higher than 48 launches in the previous month," it said. Meanwhile, gold ETFs witnessed continued outflows for the sixth consecutive month amid weakness in the gold prices. "The category's AUM fell by 6 per cent to Rs 9,300 crore led by outflows of Rs 130 crore and mark-to-market losses.