1st Jan 2022 marked the 9th anniversary of direct plan mutual funds. In this article, we list the most popular direct plan mutual funds – that is the ones with the largest AUM.
The AUM (asset under management) of mutual funds reported in most online portals is the total value. AUM of the regular plan (commissions removed before NAV declaration) plus AUM of the direct plan (no commissions).
Each quarter, the association of mutual funds in India (AMF) reports the average AUM per quarter. Domestic fund of funds AUM is reported separately to avoid double counting of assets. In this report, the AUM of the direct plan and regular plan mutual funds are reported separately. Also, under each plan, one can find out the AUM in dividend option and growth option. NB: Plans and options have distinct meanings for mutual funds and should not be used interchangeably!
We had recently used the same data source to discuss Which mutual funds do retail and high net worth investors choose?
The total average assets under management (AAUM) for the quarter of July – September 2021 (Rs in Lakhs) across the 15 fund categories listed below is Rs. 16,17,17,870.9 lakhs.
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- ELSS
- Flexi Cap Fund
- Focused Fund
- Large & Mid Cap Fund
- Large Cap Fund
- Mid Cap Fund
- Multi-Cap Fund
- Sectoral/ Thematic
- Small Cap Fund
- Value Fund
- Aggressive Hybrid Fund
- Arbitrage Fund
- Dynamic Asset Allocation or Balanced Advantage
- Equity Savings
- Multi-Asset Allocation
The total direct AUM across these categories is Rs. 3,52,75,091.32 Lakhs or 21.8% of the total AUM mentioned above.
About 31% of the total index fund AUM is in regular plans!
Note: The funds listed below are not investment recommendations.
Top 15 popular direct plan equity-oriented mutual funds (as of July-Sep 2021)
| Scheme NAV Name | Average AUM (Rs lakhs) |
| Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund – Growth – Direct | 1411036 |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – Growth – Direct | 995824.9 |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 982571.5 |
| ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 950681.7 |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 946538.6 |
| Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 899871 |
| HDFC Flexi Cap Fund – Growth Option – Direct Plan | 764568.3 |
| SBI BLUE CHIP FUND-DIRECT PLAN -GROWTH | 761301.3 |
| Tata Arbitrage Fund-Direct Plan-Growth | 712056.4 |
| Nippon India Arbitrage Fund – Direct Plan Growth Plan – Growth Option | 695892.6 |
| Axis Long Term Equity Fund – Direct Plan – Growth Option | 685605.8 |
| ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 676844.1 |
| Mirae Asset Emerging Bluechip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 619820.2 |
| HDFC ARBITRAGE FUND – Wholesale Growth Option – Direct Plan | 603128.9 |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Arbitrage Fund – Growth – Direct Plan | 586643.5 |
This is the AUM percentage break up of the top six funds.
| Fund | AUM (Rs. Lakhs) | % Share of AUM (for each fund) |
| Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund – Growth | 1015484 | 41.0% |
| Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund – Growth – Direct | 1411036 | 56.9% |
| Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund -IDCW | 40230.23 | 1.6% |
| Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund – IDCW – Direct | 12276.26 | 0.5% |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – Growth | 2683735 | 71.0% |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – Growth – Direct | 995824.9 | 26.4% |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – IDCW | 88857.11 | 2.4% |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – IDCW- Direct | 9440.6 | 0.2% |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 982571.5 | 34.4% |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund – Growth Plan | 1817978 | 63.6% |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund Direct IDCW | 8593.64 | 0.3% |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund Regular IDCW | 49350.34 | 1.7% |
| ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 950681.7 | 64.2% |
| ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund – Direct Plan – IDCW | 12627.47 | 0.9% |
| ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund – Growth | 493278.7 | 33.3% |
| ICICI Prudential Equity Arbitrage Fund – IDCW | 24858.85 | 1.7% |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 946538.6 | 30.8% |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Direct Plan – IDCW | 11501.25 | 0.4% |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan – Growth | 2075511 | 67.5% |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan – IDCW | 42965.64 | 1.4% |
| Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 899871 | 64.8% |
| Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund – Regular Plan-Growth | 489612.8 | 35.2% |
The arbitrage fund AUM is likely from high networth investors. Parag Parikh Flexicap has the large direct chunk in the top six but much of is the AUM from their PMS which was wound up.
The top 15 direct plan small cap funds are listed below.
| Fund | Average AUM (Rs lakhs) |
| HDFC Small Cap Fund – Growth Option – Direct Plan | 425061.6 |
| SBI Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 317363.2 |
| Nippon India Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan Growth Plan – Growth Option | 302427.9 |
| Axis Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 283232 |
| DSP Small Cap Fund – Direct Plan – Growth | 160334 |
| Franklin India Smaller Companies Fund – Direct – Growth | 145407.8 |
| Kotak-Small Cap Fund – Growth – Direct | 130893.2 |
Top 15 popular regular plan equity-oriented mutual funds (as of July-Sep 2021)
| Fund | Average AUM (Rs lakhs) |
| SBI EQUITY HYBRID FUND – REGULAR PLAN -Growth | 3737761 |
| ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage Fund – Growth | 2709485 |
| Kotak Flexicap Fund – Growth | 2683735 |
| HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities Fund – Growth Plan | 2452795 |
| Axis Long Term Equity Fund – Regular Plan – Growth | 2385687 |
| HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund – IDCW Plan | 2264428 |
| ICICI Prudential Bluechip Fund – Growth | 2156021 |
| SBI BLUE CHIP FUND-REGULAR PLAN GROWTH | 2112357 |
| Axis Bluechip Fund – Regular Plan – Growth | 2075511 |
| Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund – Growth Plan | 1817978 |
| HDFC Flexi Cap Fund – Growth Plan | 1659869 |
| Aditya Birla Sun Life Frontline Equity Fund-Growth | 1630271 |
| ICICI Prudential Value Discovery Fund – Growth | 1566676 |
| HDFC Top 100 Fund – Growth Option – Regular Plan | 1511021 |
| HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund – Growth Plan | 1502955 |
The presence of many “balanced advantage funds” (whatever that means!) should come as no surprise considering how aggressively they are pushed. Their performance during the March 2020 crash can be seen here: These five equity hybrid funds fell 50% less than Nifty during the crash.
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