Even as the stock markets fell, retail investors have helped mutual funds close 2015 with their highest-ever folio count of 4.59 crore, a growth of 13.84 per cent over 2014. Of this, the retail count was 4.37 crore, which is an increase of 13 per cent or 50.69 lakh folios, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

A report released by Crisil, based on this data, found that equity-oriented funds received the lion’s share of retail folios despite market volatility. Retail folios in the segment were up 13.33 per cent (39.53 lakh folios) at 3.36 crore despite the fact that the market, as represented by Nifty 50, closed the year down 4 per cent.

Balanced funds also benefited because of the equity push, as the category added 4.55 lakh folios year-on-year and 1.26 lakh folios on quarter to close 2015 at 23.45 lakh folios. “Within balanced funds, retail and HNI folios posted a rise of 1.08 lakh folios and 0.14 lakh folios, respectively, for the quarter,” Crisil said.

Debt funds too favourite

Debt funds also logged the fourth consecutive quarterly rise, adding 3.96 lakh folios to take the tally to 75.33 lakh. This included 3.68 lakh retail folios, compared with 2.47 lakh folios in the previous quarter.

The data also showed that 55 per cent of retail equity AUM stays invested for over two years, lower than 56.38 per cent in the preceding quarter and 59.92 per cent a year ago. Of the ₹2.22 lakh crore retail investments in equity-oriented mutual funds, ₹1.21 lakh crore was held for over 24 months.

By investor category, corporates still hold the largest share of assets, at 48 per cent while retail accounts for 22 per cent. HNI investors — or those investing above ₹5 lakh — recorded an absolute rise of nearly 4 lakh folios in 2015 and 0.88 lakh in the December quarter, pushing its total base to 17.21 lakh.

However, folio closures in gold-exchange traded funds continued for the fourth consecutive quarter. There were 36,712 closures during the full year.

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