How AUM per folio panned out over the last one year?

8 Sep 2023 , 09:30 AM

How do investors judge the changing colour of mutual fund flows. The AMFI publishes the mutual fund flow data on a monthly basis and also on a cumulative quarterly basis. These monthly data statements provide a number of key data points like gross flows into various categories of mutual funds, net flows into funds, folios, and the AUM shifts over time. However, one very important parameter to evaluate is the AUM per folio. This is an average derived by dividing the total AUM of a category by the number of folios. Stand alone, this does not tell you much, but when compared over time, it gives insights into the shifts that have happened in the form of institutionalization of flows, deepening of wallet share etc. Let us first look at the significance of the AUM per folio measure.

AUM per folios – what does it indicate

The AUM (assets under management) per folio can be seen at a macro level but can also be drilled down into broad categories like debt, equity, hybrid, passive etc. In addition, within each of these categories, you can drill down further into specific categories. For example, you can study AUM per folio for gilt funds and liquid funds under debt category. You can also look at small cap funds and sector funds under the equity category, and the list can go on. What was the macro picture as of the end of July 2023 and as compared to the year ago period of July 2022?

As of the end of July 2023, the average AUM per folio has increased by 9.61% from Rs2,87,268 to Rs3,14,862. But what does an increase in the AUM per folio indicate? It can be indicative of a number of factors. Increase in AUM per folio can be triggered by factors like increased interest in the category, greater retail participation, greater wallet shares etc. At the same time, a fall in the AUM per folio can be triggered by factors like reducing interest in the particular category, greater institutional participation and a reduction in the wallet share or wallet shifts as it is popular called. Let us first look at how the AUM per folio moved for the debt funds category on a yoy basis.

AUM per folio – How it moved for debt funds

The table below captures the category wise movement of AUM per folio for various categories of debt funds. The funds in the table below have been ranked on the basis of the growth in AUM/folio over a one year period.

DEBT FUNDS	Total Folios (Jul-23)	AUM  (Jul-23)	Total Folios (Jul-22)	AUM  (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio (Jul-23)	AUM/Folio (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio Growth
Gilt Fund (0 year D)	41,832	4,219	42,393	1,988	10,08,667	4,68,967	115.08%
Long Duration Fund	47,731	9,315	23,848	2,570	19,51,535	10,77,794	81.07%
Gilt Fund	1,81,427	23,255	1,71,254	15,137	12,81,755	8,83,876	45.02%
Dynamic Bond Fund	2,32,024	30,410	2,23,827	21,847	13,10,658	9,76,061	34.28%
Liquid Fund	17,99,501	4,74,198	17,51,686	3,58,402	26,35,162	20,46,038	28.79%
Money Market Fund	4,34,366	1,49,582	4,16,108	1,11,689	34,43,688	26,84,128	28.30%
Corporate Bond Fund	6,08,834	1,36,964	6,34,713	1,13,857	22,49,615	17,93,839	25.41%
Medium to Long Duration	1,06,719	10,256	1,13,099	9,044	9,61,057	7,99,634	20.19%
Low Duration Fund	9,33,671	1,06,720	10,04,139	99,305	11,43,020	9,88,957	15.58%
Short Duration Fund	5,00,046	99,382	5,40,403	95,153	19,87,455	17,60,777	12.87%
Banking and PSU Fund	2,85,661	80,959	3,13,127	82,678	28,34,100	26,40,410	7.34%
Ultra Short Duration Fund	6,47,116	1,00,630	6,16,009	90,774	15,55,055	14,73,575	5.53%
Credit Risk Fund	2,34,415	24,294	2,62,757	26,192	10,36,354	9,96,831	3.96%
Floater Fund	2,31,370	60,641	2,53,053	65,542	26,20,956	25,90,045	1.19%
Medium Duration Fund	2,53,075	27,404	2,65,574	28,838	10,82,847	10,85,892	-0.28%
Overnight Fund	7,20,682	79,008	6,14,247	1,23,410	10,96,295	20,09,124	-45.43%
TOTAL OF DEBT FUNDS	72,58,470	14,17,238	72,46,237	12,46,426	19,52,530	17,20,101	13.51%

Data Source: AMFI

Here are some of the broad takeaways from the data of AUM per folio for debt funds in India as of July 2023.

• At a macro level, debt fund saw positive growth in AUM per folio of 13.51% on yoy basis as of July 2023. This surge came largely in the last few months when interest in debt funds appeared to revive once again.

   

• Which were the categories of debt funds that saw the maximum accretion in AUM per folio. It was largely the longer tenure funds like the gilt funds, long duration funds, 10-year gilt funds as well as liquid fund and money market funds at the short end. These fund categories saw a spike in the folios and AUM during the last 1 year.

   

• Let us turn to the categories that lagged in accretion of AUM per folio. The worst performer was overnight funds, which saw halving of AUM per folios, largely because the folios increased but AUM fell sharply as most institutions shifted out of overnight funds. Other categories like medium duration funds, floater funds and credit risk funds also saw flat to marginal growth in AUM per folios over the one year period.

To sum it up, the debt fund category overall has seen an improvement in AUM per folio, but that is largely on account of the surge in debt fund flows in the last 4 months.

AUM per folio – How it moved for equity funds

The table below captures the category wise movement of AUM per folio for various categories of equity funds. The funds in the table below have been ranked on the basis of the growth in AUM/folio over a one year period. The good news is that all the categories of equity funds have seen positive growth in AUM per folio over the last one year.

EQUITY FUNDS	Total Folios (Jul-23)	AUM  (Jul-23)	Total Folios (Jul-22)	AUM  (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio (Jul-23)	AUM/Folio (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio Growth
Dividend Yield Fund	7,63,914	17,368	5,87,383	9,946	2,27,360	1,69,329	34.27%
Sectoral/Thematic Funds	1,35,65,765	2,06,710	1,24,55,778	1,54,214	1,52,376	1,23,809	23.07%
Large & Mid Cap Fund	80,81,426	1,55,885	71,81,262	1,17,219	1,92,893	1,63,228	18.17%
Flexi Cap Fund	1,28,46,852	2,80,965	1,21,57,663	2,31,328	2,18,703	1,90,273	14.94%
Focused Fund	52,01,169	1,12,685	52,70,192	99,934	2,16,652	1,89,620	14.26%
Large Cap Fund	1,29,65,360	2,66,035	1,27,98,164	2,31,852	2,05,189	1,81,160	13.26%
Value Fund/Contra Fund	50,53,888	1,11,052	42,03,723	82,030	2,19,736	1,95,137	12.61%
Mid Cap Fund	1,13,13,470	2,29,879	92,45,074	1,68,438	2,03,191	1,82,192	11.53%
Multi Cap Fund	44,53,227	85,031	34,59,965	59,304	1,90,943	1,71,401	11.40%
ELSS	1,53,25,099	1,76,490	1,42,34,392	1,47,911	1,15,164	1,03,911	10.83%
Small Cap Fund	1,30,15,548	1,82,493	86,59,248	1,13,332	1,40,212	1,30,880	7.13%
TOTAL EQUITY FUNDS	10,25,85,718	18,24,594	9,02,52,844	14,15,507	1,77,860	1,56,838	13.40%

Data Source: AMFI

Here are some of the broad takeaways from the data of AUM per folio for equity funds in India as of July 2023.

• At a macro level, equity fund saw positive growth in AUM per folios of 13.40% on yoy basis as of July 2023. This surge came largely from categories like dividend yield funds and sectoral funds where HNI investments went up sharply.

   

• Which were the categories of equity funds that saw the maximum accretion in AUM per folio. It was largely the HNI centric funds like Dividend Yield funds, sectoral funds, thematic funds, large & mid-cap funds and flexi-cap funds. These funds saw meaningful accretion in AUM and also in folios on yoy basis.

   

• Let us turn to the categories of equity funds that lagged in accretion of AUM per folio. These were dominated by the retail intensive and NFO intensive categories like small cap funds, mid-cap funds, ELSS funds etc. The reason was that due to the retail intensity, the growth in AUM did not match the growth in folios, resulting in lower AUM per folio growth on a yoy basis.

To sum it up, the equity fund category overall has seen an improvement in AUM per folio, but that is largely favouring the HNI intensive categories and is low for retail intensive categories of equity funds.

AUM per folio – How it moved for Hybrid Funds

The table below captures the category wise movement of AUM per folio for various categories of Hybrid funds. The funds in the table below have been ranked on the basis of the growth in AUM per folio over a one year period. The good news is that all the categories of hybrid funds have seen positive growth in AUM per folio over the last one year. Also, there has been stable growth across the various categories.

 

HYBRID FUNDS	Total Folios (Jul-23)	AUM  (Jul-23)	Total Folios (Jul-22)	AUM  (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio (Jul-23)	AUM/Folio (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio Growth
Multi Asset Allocation Fund	11,78,713	33,780	8,29,737	20,404	2,86,580	2,45,914	16.54%
Arbitrage Funds	4,38,865	90,746	5,00,402	89,117	20,67,734	17,80,917	16.11%
Dynamic Asset Allocation/BAF	44,43,098	2,11,100	43,86,473	1,86,630	4,75,120	4,25,467	11.67%
Aggressive Hybrid Fund	52,99,241	1,71,714	51,91,744	1,50,660	3,24,035	2,90,192	11.66%
Conservative Hybrid Fund	5,23,207	24,695	5,13,330	21,715	4,71,990	4,23,031	11.57%
Equity Savings Fund	3,66,513	18,962	3,66,728	17,080	5,17,368	4,65,739	11.09%
TOTAL OF HYBRID FUNDS	1,22,49,637	5,50,997	1,17,88,414	4,85,607	4,49,806	4,11,936	9.19%

Data Source: AMFI

Here are some of the broad takeaways from the data of AUM per folio for hybrid funds in India as of July 2023.

• At a macro level, the hybrid funds saw positive growth in AUM per folios of 9.19% on yoy basis as of July 2023. This surge came largely from categories like multi asset allocation funds and arbitrage funds.

   

• Which were the categories of hybrid funds that saw the maximum accretion in AUM per folio. It was largely the HNI centric funds like multi asset allocation funds and the institution centric funds like the arbitrage funds. These funds saw meaningful accretion in AUM and also in folios on yoy basis.

   

• Let us turn to the categories of hybrid funds that lagged in accretion of AUM per folio. The remaining 5 categories of hybrid funds saw almost similar growth in AUM per folio at around 11% plus. The reason was that due to the retail intensity, the growth in AUM did not match the growth in folios, resulting in lower AUM per folio growth.

To sum it up, the hybrid fund category overall has seen an improvement in AUM per folio, but that is largely favouring the HNI and institution centric categories and is low for retail intensive categories of hybrid funds.

AUM per folio – How it moved for Passive Funds

The table below captures the category wise movement of AUM per folio for Passive funds. The funds in the table below have been ranked on the basis of the growth in AUM/folio over a one year period. The good news is that all the categories of passive funds have seen positive growth in AUM per folio over the last one year. 

PASSIVE FUNDS	Total Folios (Jul-23)	AUM  (Jul-23)	Total Folios (Jul-22)	AUM  (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio (Jul-23)	AUM/Folio (Jul-22)	AUM/Folio Growth
Index Funds	1,22,12,329	5,54,108	1,15,34,916	4,36,116	4,53,729	3,78,084	20.01%
GOLD ETF	47,74,760	23,329	46,42,602	20,038	48,860	43,161	13.20%
Other ETFs	48,14,292	1,79,302	27,51,698	94,589	3,72,437	3,43,750	8.35%
Fund of funds investing overseas	13,74,053	24,404	12,60,136	21,176	1,77,604	1,68,042	5.69%
TOTAL OF PASSIVE FUNDS	2,31,75,434	7,81,144	2,01,89,352	5,71,919	3,37,057	2,83,278	18.98%

Data Source: AMFI

Here are some of the broad takeaways from the data of AUM per folio for passive funds in India as of July 2023.

• At a macro level, the passive funds saw positive growth in AUM per folios of 18.98% on yoy basis as of July 2023. It underlines that passive has been the most preferred category in the last one year across retail, HNI and institutional intensity.

   

• Which were the categories of passive funds that saw the maximum accretion in AUM per folio. It was largely the index funds and gold ETFs. Passives have been preferred by institutions and HNIs and the participation has widened in the last one year. 

   

• Let us turn to the categories of passive funds that lagged in accretion of AUM per folio. There was reduced in index ETFs and fund of funds during the year, which is evident from the below average accretion in AUM per folio.

To sum it up, the passive fund category overall has seen an improvement in AUM per folio, but that is largely favouring the HNI and institution centric categories but it is low for retail intensive categories of passive funds, and passive funds with seen a lower share of NFOs.