Average mutual fund assets hit all-time high

Coimbatore: The mutual fund (MF) industry has seen a good rebound in October with the average assets under management (AUMs) hitting an alltime high in the month on the back of strong inflows in liquid schemes.      The average AUM for 35 out of the 39 schemes for which data is available has grown 1.4% or Rs 10,902 crore to Rs 7,53,822 crore during the month.      With this, the industry has breached the previous high of about Rs 7.5 lakh crore achieved in August and has shown a robust 74% growth in assets in the last one year, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India show. The average AUM of 36 funds stood at Rs 74,2919.67 crore in September. While data is not available for two funds for October, the newlylaunched Axis MF made it to the list in the month.      Banks and corporates that pulled out money from liquid schemes in September to meet advance tax obligations have channelled it back pushing AUMs higher. "A lot of money that went out of the system has come back in October. Liquid schemes have contributed to the growth," says Jaideep Bhattacharya, chief marketing officer, UTI MF.      "Debt (scheme) allocations are on the rise and ultra-short term funds have seen good inflows," says Lakshmi Iyer, head, products, Kotak Mahindra MF. Corporates have also parked the money raised from qualified institutional placements in ultra-short term schemes, say industry officials.