Mutual Funds Yet to Hit Hinterlands

While real estate, land, gold, and fixed deposits continue to be the favoured investment options in India, mutual fund as an alternative is slowly making inroads. Young demographics, rise in financial awareness and increase in appetite of taking risks are some of the many reasons for this change. The total Asset under Management (AUM) of mutual fund industry to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of India stands at around 10 per cent. Though this is way below the global average of 55 per cent, factors like awareness campaigns launched by Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and policy decisions like demonetization, have helped the mutual fund industry to grow substantially. According to the latest data by AMFI, the total asset managed by the mutual fund industry at the end of June 2018 was Rs 23.57 lakh crore (trillion). This is up by 18.32 per cent, and as of June 2017 it was Rs...