LIC Mutual Fund’s Small Town Hope

 

LIC Mutual Fund has set a target for Assets Under Management (AUM) of Rs. 35,000 crores by the end of current fiscal year, fuelled by systematic investments from investors in small towns.

 

“We are currently at around Rs. 25,000 crores and we hope to grow the assets under management to Rs. 35,000 crores in the current fiscal,” mentioned by LIC Mutual Fund chief marketing officer Rajesh Patwardhan.

 

LIC’s mutual fund arm expects to increase its retail business with investors of beyond the top 15 cities.

 

“These investors are more habituated to regular flow of money through savings products. They want regular income. At present, such small towns contribute 16 % to the retail assets and the objective is to take it to 20 %,” he said.

 

Majority investments would be in the form of Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) and the Company plans to increase up to Rs. 30 crores/month from one lakh accounts in 2017-18.

 

The retail share in the total AUM of LIC Mutual Fund is also expected to grow with institutional investments coming down. At present, retail contributes for 35 % of AUM, whereas 65% from institutional investors.

 

Patwardhan further stated that the Company is looking forward to launch a credit opportunity fund as the credit scenario shall improve. Demonetization had benefitted the mutual fund industry as investments improved.