Bengaluru: Asset management company Axis Mutual Fund is confident about closing the ongoing financial year with Rs 2.85 lakh crore in total assets under management, company managing director and chief executive B Gopkumar told DH. Presently, the figure stands around Rs 2.70 lakh crore.
“We have around Rs 1.6 lakh crore in equity funds and the rest on fixed income side,” Gopkumar elaborated.
The quantum of unique investor accounts on the platform is expected to grow 10-12%, as Axis Mutual Fund adds another 40 branches before the end of FY24.
“We’re doing two things – strengthening our distribution, and investment teams. We’ll have 9 fund managers, we’ve already announced 6 and we’ll have three more,” he said. Axis Mutual Fund has strengthened its workforce with 200 new employees so far this fiscal.
In FY25, the Axis Bank subsidiary expects 26-27% growth in revenue to capture a 6.5% market share, from 5.5% currently, Gopkumar said.
Currently, the company’s equity portfolio is focused on business-to-consumer companies as the brand remains bullish on further improvement in consumption demand.
Speaking on industry trends, Gopkumar attested to a growing number of investors opting for mutual funds over fixed deposits as their first choice of instrument. Moreover, the average age of a mutual fund investor has declined with this new set of investors joining the fray.
He attributed this feat to increasing formalisation and digitisation in the economy in the past 3-4 years. “Ease of investing has also changed, it is all electronic now,” he added.
Elaborating on the challenges in the industry, he highlighted the need for a higher number of financial advisors. Furthermore, “We have to keep up the regulatory pace,” he added.
As of November 2023, the AMC’s star performer was the Axis Smallcap Fund, which delivered 28.37% in annual returns. It was closely followed by the Value and Multicap Funds, which delivered 25.21% and 24.61%, respectively.
“Look at your risk profile and look at your financial planning very critically,” is Gopkumar’s quick advice for a prospective investor.
(Published 20 December 2023, 22:55 IST)