Mumbai, December 26: The overall asset under management of Indian Mutual Fund (MF) industry comprising of 44 Asset Management Companies (AMCs) is estimated to grow by Rs 4.60-4.85 lakh crore in the calendar year 2020. The AUM will grow 17-18 per cent in the new-year beginning January as compared to similar growth it witnessed in 2019 at 18 per cent.

MFs AUM stood at Rs 4.2 lakh crore, to an all time high of Rs 27 lakh crore in 2019 by November-end itself, up from Rs 22.86 lakh crore at the end of December 2018, as per the latest data available with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).

Industry expects the growth trajectory to continue in the new year on the back of strong inflows in debt schemes and measures taken by capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for boosting investors' confidence.

It was because of strong inflows into debt-oriented schemes that saved 2019 from being a "dark-dull year of investing" as inflows into equity funds has dropped this year due to a volatile market.

N S Venkatesh, CEO, Amfi, an industry body said, “Going ahead, the industry should witness growth in the range of 17-18 per cent in 2020 and equity funds should see robust inflows as expectations are high about improved equity markets and a revival in economic growth”.

Some industry experts said the final December-end figure might be slightly lower than the November-end level, as liquid funds could see some dip due to a quarter-end phenomenon.

The investor count is estimated to have grown by over 62 lakh during 2019, to 8.65 crore this year. In 2018, investors' folio grew by more than 1.3 crore.

The 18 per cent AUM growth witnessed in 2019 is significantly higher than the growth of 7.5 per cent witnessed in 2018. However, the growth was much more higher at 32 per cent in 2017, when the asset base expanded by over Rs 5.4 lakh.

Industry experts said the double-digit growth is a positive sign given the negative sentiment about equity and fixed income securities and should be primarily credited to inflows in debt-oriented schemes, steps taken by Sebi that boosted confidence among investors and to the distributors for helping take the message of "mutual fund sahi hai" (mutual funds are right) to every nook and corner of the country.

The year 2019 marks the seventh consecutive yearly rise in the industry AUM after a drop for two preceding years. The AUM of the industry has grown from Rs 8.22 lakh crore in November 2009 to Rs 27 lakh crore in November 2019, indicating an over three-fold jump in 10 years.