Business
Changing Dynamics: Smaller fund houses outpace major players in 2021

The mutual fund space has grown over the pandemic and interestingly so far in 2021, several smaller companies have gained momentum and outpaced the growth of established major players.
In tandem with the rise in the equity market, small players made giant strides during the year.
Equity schemes of fund houses like Quant Mutual Fund, ITI Mutual Fund, PPFAS Mutual have been among the best performing schemes so far in the year.
The assets under management of Quant witnessed over five-fold rise during January-July 2021. Its AUM in December 2020 stood at Rs 521 crore and by July-end it reached Rs 2,842 crore, showed data from primemfdatabase.com.
The AUM of ITI Mutual Fund rose over 100 per cent to Rs 1,879 crore and PPFAS Mutual Fund’s AUM also nearly doubled to Rs 14,318 crore.
Some of the schemes of relatively new fund houses have given blockbuster returns with several of them coming from Quant Mutual Fund. As per the market estimates, ICICI Prudential Technology Fund, Quant Tax Plan Fund, PGIM India Midcap Opportunities Fund, Quant Infrastructure Fund and Quant Active Fund are the top five equity funds giving best returns ranging from 80 per cent to over 100 per cent.
Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, a major player in the segment, has the highest AUM of over Rs 2.58 lakh crore as of July 2021, 13 per cent higher than Rs 22.78 lakh crore, the Prime Database data showed.
According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director of Prime Database Group, the higher growth rate of AUM of smaller fund houses is due to low base effect along with their identification of specialised offerings.
“One reason is low base effect, and second I think smaller fund houses have done a commendable job in terms of identifying niches where they have specialised,” he told IANS.
He further said that performance of these mutual funds along with the incumbent giants will continue to be robust.
“The sort of AUM growth which you have seen in the mutual fund industry in the five odd years, the AUM now stands at close to 35-36 lakh crores. So the growth of these smaller fund houses will also extract a fair share of that growth,” he said.
Haldea told IANS that the growth will continue because there will be more channellising of retail savings into mutual funds going forward.
More and more retail investors in the last one and half years have come to the capital market as various other kinds of investment markets are not providing the investment returns that they are used to.
“So retail investors are increasingly looking at equity and the markets obviously are supportive and the markets are doing really well,” he said.
N.S. Venkatesh, Chief Executive, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) said: “Mutual Funds have emerged as the preferred savings-cum-investment avenue over the last few years, and the pandemic has actually triggered this shift towards Mutual Funds in a more pronounced way.”
This shift will continue in 2021 and beyond, accentuated by Sebi-driven initiatives towards transparency and disclosures, he said.
“Over the years, mutual fund industry too, has deepened its penetration, beyond top 15 cities, even as number of MF players has risen with new fund houses coming in to mutual fund industry, enabling steady but sure rise in the number of investors who have been embracing mutual funds as the preferred savings tool,” Venkatesh said.
The number of mutual fund investors in the country has doubled to 2.39 crore as of June 30, 2021 from 1.19 crore at the end of March 2017, thereby indicating that pandemic has actually had no impact on the inflows, he added.
The mutual fund industry AUM rose 4.9 per cent in July 2021 to a record Rs 35.3 lakh crore due to inflows into both equity funds and debt funds
An ICICI Direct Research report said that IT funds have been consistent outperformers in the last two to three years as the growth outlook improved for the sector in the post Covid world resulting in valuation re-rating of most stocks.
The sectors or segments like infrastructure, PSUs that lagged behind in the early part of the rally, have started to gain traction indicating the healthy trend of sector rotation, it said.
“Small cap funds have been consistent outperformers in the last one year after they were beaten down during the Covid pandemic induced market fall. Midcaps also followed small cap funds and have outperformed other categories. However, there seemed to be some profit booking recently as it underperformed in the last one month,” it said.
Business
PM Modi’s dream of developed India by 2047 becomes collective resolve of every citizen

New Delhi, Sep 17: Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the dream of a developed India by 2047 has today become the collective resolve of every citizen, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.
Wishing PM Modi on his 75th birthday, the minister said that in the past 11 years, “your tireless hard work and dedication have brought unprecedented transformation in the lives of crores of Indians”.
“You have ignited the lamp of patriotism in the heart of every citizen and awakened a resolve for active participation in nation-building. May God grant you excellent health and a long life, so that you continue to serve Mother India with the same dedication and energy in the coming years,” Joshi noted in a post on X.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that meeting PM Modi for the first time as a member of his cabinet was a truly unforgettable experience for him.
“His deep interest in every subject, open mindedness, and out of the box perspective gave me new energy and inspired me to fulfill my responsibilities with even greater dedication and enthusiasm,” he posted on X.
“That one experience endowed me with the ability to serve the people with complete devotion for a lifetime, and for that, I will always remain deeply grateful to him from the bottom of my heart,” Scindia emphasised.
He further stated that PM Modi is dedicated to the development of every individual and is devoted to the principles of Antyodaya.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, said that under PM Modi’s leadership, the significant decision of GST reforms will not only simplify and ease the lives of citizens but also provide new energy to the industry and business world, while promoting local production and entrepreneurship.
Business
Urban Company IPO Surges On Debut, Listed At 60% Premium – What Drove The Buzz?

Mumbai: Urban Company created a big buzz on its first day in the stock market. The company’s IPO (Initial Public Offering) was listed on September 17 on both the BSE and NSE. The issue price was Rs 103 per share, but it opened much higher at Rs 162.25 per share. This gave investors an immediate listing gain of almost 60 percent, which is a huge return on the first day itself.
The Rs 1,900 crore IPO opened for subscription from September 10 to 12, and it received an overwhelming response. The IPO was subscribed more than 103 times in total. This means demand was over 100 times more than the number of shares available. Big institutional investors showed the most interest, but retail and high-net-worth investors also participated in large numbers.
Out of the total IPO amount, Urban Company raised Rs 472 crore as fresh issue, and the rest came through an Offer for Sale (OFS) of Rs 1,428 crore. The company plans to use the fresh funds for marketing initiatives and technology upgrades, which will help it grow faster. Before the IPO, Urban Company also raised Rs 854 crore from major anchor investors, including names like SBI Funds, HDFC Mutual Fund, Fidelity, Nomura, Goldman Sachs, and others.
Urban Company is a popular platform that offers home and beauty services. Customers can book services such as cleaning, pest control, plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, painting, beauty treatments, grooming, and massage therapy. The company currently operates in 51 cities across India, UAE, and Singapore, and it is also present in Saudi Arabia through a joint venture. Urban Company is growing quickly and aims to become a global leader in home services.
Business
Sensex, Nifty open higher as India-US trade talks set to resume

Mumbai, Sep 16: The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday amid mixed global cues, as US Chief Negotiator Brendan Lynch arrived in India to resume trade negotiations between the two nations.
As of 9.25 am, the Sensex was up 184 points or 0.23 per cent at 81,970, and the Nifty was up 47 points or 0.19 per cent at 25,117.
The broadcap indices outperformed benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.26 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 moved up 0.70 per cent.
Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and Hero Motocorp were the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index. Titan Company, SBI Life Insurance, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products weighed on the Nifty 50 index.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media, the top gainer, jumped 1.08 per cent. Nifty Auto (up 0.65 per cent) and Nifty Oil and gas (up 0.57 per cent) were the other major gainers. Except Nifty FMCG and Nifty PSU Bank, which were marginally down, all other indices were in the green.
Analysts said that, from a technical standpoint, a sustained move above the 25,160 level could pave the way for a rally toward 25,250 and 25,500 zones. The immediate support lies at 25,000 and 24,900 zones.
“The bold reforms – both fiscal and monetary – implemented this year have started yielding results and is likely to gather momentum in near future. An India-US trade agreement without the penal tariffs can be a shot in the arm for markets,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.
Major US indices ended firmly in the green zone overnight as the Nasdaq rose 0.94 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.47 per cent, and the Dow advanced 0.11 per cent.
Most of the Asian markets made strong gains during the morning session. While China’s Shanghai index dipped 0.1 per cent, and Shenzhen inched down 0.26 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.54 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.07 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 1.2 per cent.
The US markets are pricing in a 96.4 per cent probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut on September 17, with additional cuts expected through year-end.
On Monday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,268 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 1,933 crore.
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