History of the Indian Mutual Fund Industry

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The mutual fund industry in India started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India, at the initiative of the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual funds in India can be broadly divided into four distinct phases First Phase 1964-87 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was de-linked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs.6,700 crores of assets under management. Second Phase 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) 1987 marked the entry of non- UTI, public sector mutual funds set up by public sector banks and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). SBI Mutual Fund was the first non- UTI Mutual Fund established in June 1987 followed by Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC established its mutual fund in June 1989 while GIC had set up its mutual fund in December 1990. At the end of 1993, the mutual fund industry had assets under management of Rs.47,004 crores. Third Phase 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs.44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds. Fourth Phase since February 2003 In February 2003, following the repeal of the Unit Trust of India Act 1963 UTI was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with assets under management of Rs.29,835 crores as at the end of January 2003, representing broadly, the assets of US 64 scheme, assured return and certain other schemes. The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more than Rs.76,000 crores of assets under management and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of

consolidation and growth. The graph indicates the growth of assets over the years.

Note: Erstwhile UTI was bifurcated into UTI Mutual Fund and the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India effective from February 2003. The Assets under management of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India has therefore been excluded from the total assets of the industry as a whole from February 2003 onwards.

The Evolution http://www.appuonline.com/mf/knowledge/industry.html

The formation of Unit Trust of India marked the evolution of the Indian mutual fund industry in the year 1963. The primary objective at that time was to attract the small investors and it was made possible through the collective efforts of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India. The history of mutual fund industry in India can be better understood divided into following phases: Phase 1. Establishment and Growth of Unit Trust of India - 1964-87 Unit Trust of India enjoyed complete monopoly when it was established in the year 1963 by an act of Parliament. UTI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and it continued to operate under the regulatory control of the RBI until the two were de-linked in 1978 and the entire control was tranferred in the hands of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). UTI launched its first scheme in 1964, named as Unit Scheme 1964 (US-64), which attracted the largest number of investors in any single investment scheme over the years. UTI launched more innovative schemes in 1970s and 80s to suit the needs of different investors. It launched ULIP in 1971, six more schemes between 1981-84, Children's Gift Growth Fund and India Fund (India's first offshore fund) in 1986, Mastershare (Inida's first equity diversified scheme) in 1987 and Monthly Income Schemes (offering assured returns) during 1990s. By the end of 1987, UTI's assets under management grew ten times to Rs 6700 crores. Phase II. Entry of Public Sector Funds - 1987-1993 The Indian mutual fund industry witnessed a number of public sector players entering the market in the year 1987. In November 1987, SBI Mutual Fund from the State Bank of India became the first non-UTI mutual fund in India. SBI Mutual Fund was later followed by Canbank Mutual Fund, LIC Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Muatual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund, GIC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund. By 1993, the assets under management of the industry increased seven times to Rs. 47,004 crores. However, UTI remained to be the leader with about 80% market share.

Assets Under 1992-93 UTI Public Sector Total Amount Mobilised Management 11,057 1,964 13,021 38,247 8,757 47,004

Mobilisation as % of gross Domestic Savings

5.2%

0.9%

6.1%

Phase III. Emergence of Private Secor Funds - 1993-96 The permission given to private sector funds including foreign fund management companies (most of them entering through joint ventures with Indian promoters) to enter the mutal fund industry in 1993, provided a wide range of choice to investors and more competition in the industry. Private funds introduced innovative products, investment techniques and investor-servicing technology. By 1994-95, about 11 private sector funds had launched their schemes. Phase IV. Growth and SEBI Regulation - 1996-2004 The mutual fund industry witnessed robust growth and stricter regulation from the SEBI after the year 1996. The mobilisation of funds and the number of players operating in the industry reached new heights as investors started showing more interest in mutual funds. Invetors' interests were safeguarded by SEBI and the Government offered tax benefits to the investors in order to encourage them. SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 was introduced by SEBI that set uniform standards for all mutual funds in India. The Union Budget in 1999 exempted all dividend incomes in the hands of investors from income tax. Various Investor Awareness Programmes were launched during this phase, both by SEBI and AMFI, with an objective to educate investors and make them informed about the mutual fund industry. In February 2003, the UTI Act was repealed and UTI was stripped of its Special legal status as a trust formed by an Act of Parliament. The primary objective behind this was to bring all mutal fund players on the same level. UTI was re-organised into two parts: 1. The Specified Undertaking, 2. The UTI Mutual Fund

Presently Unit Trust of India operates under the name of UTI Mutual Fund and its past schemes (like US-64, Assured Return Schemes) are being gradually wound up. However, UTI Mutual Fund is still the largest player in the industry. In 1999, there was a significant growth in mobilisation of funds from investors and assets under management which is supported by the following data:

GROSS FUND MOBILISATION (RS. CRORES) PRIVATE FROM 01-April-98 01-April-99 01-April-00 01-April-01 01-April-02 01-Feb.-03 01-April-03 01-April-04 01-April-05 TO 31-March-99 31-March-00 31-March-01 31-March-02 31-Jan-03 31-March-03 31-March-04 31-March-05 31-March-06 UTI 11,679 13,536 12,413 4,643 5,505 * PUBLIC SECTOR SECTOR 1,732 4,039 6,192 13,613 22,923 7,259* 68,558 1,03,246 1,83,446 7,966 42,173 74,352 1,46,267 2,20,551 58,435 5,21,632 7,36,416 9,14,712 TOTAL

21,377

59,748

92,957

1,64,523

2,48,979

65,694

5,90,190

8,39,662

10,98,158

ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (RS. CRORES) AS ON 31-March-99 UTI 53,320 PUBLIC SECTOR 8,292 PRIVATE SECTOR 6,860 TOTAL

68,472

Phase V. Growth and Consolidation - 2004 Onwards The industry has also witnessed several mergers and acquisitions recently, examples of which are acquisition of schemes of Alliance Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life, Sun F&C Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund by Principal Mutual Fund. Simultaneously, more international mutal fund players have entered India like Fidelity, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund etc. There were 29 funds as at the end of March 2006. This is a continuing phase of growth of the industry through consolidation and entry of new international and private sector players.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/mf-experts/knowhistory-structureadvantagesmutualfunds_724370.html

mutual fund is a trust that pools the savings of a number of investors who share a

common financial goal. The money thus collected is invested in capital market instruments such as shares, debentures, and other securities. The income earned through these investments is shared by its unit holders in proportion to the number of units owned by them. Thus a Mutual Fund is the most suitable investment for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.

Investments in securities are spread across a wide cross section of industries and sectors and thereby reduce the risk. Asset Management Companies (AMCs) normally come out with a number of schemes with different investment objectives from time to time. A mutual fund is required to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which regulates securities markets before it can collect funds from the public.

HISTORY OF MUTUAL FUNDS:

Prof K Geert Rouwenhorst in 'The Origins of Mutual Funds', states that the origin of pooled investing concept dates back to the late 1700s in Europe, when "a Dutch merchant and broker invited subscriptions from investors to form a trust to provide an opportunity to diversify for small investors with limited means." The emergence of "investment pooling" in England in the 1800s brought the concept closer to the US shores.

The enactment of two British laws, the Joint Stock Companies Acts of 1862 and 1867, permitted investors to share in the profits of an investment enterprise and limited investor liability to the amount of investment capital devoted to the enterprise. Shortly thereafter, in 1868, the Foreign and Colonial Government Trust was formed in London.

It resembled the US fund model in basic structure, providing "the investor of moderate means the same advantages as the large capitalists by spreading the investment over a number of different stocks." More importantly, the British fund model established a direct link with the US securities markets, helping finance the development of the post-Civil War US economy.

The Scottish American Investment Trust, formed in February 1873, by fund pioneer Robert Fleming, invested in the economic potential of the US, chiefly through American railroad

bonds. Many other trusts followed them, who not only targeted investment in America, but led to the introduction of the fund investing concept on the US shores in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. The first mutual or 'open-ended' fund was introduced in Boston in March 1924. The Massachusetts Investors Trust, which was formed as a common law trust, introduced important innovations to the investment company concept by establishing a simplified capital structure, continuous offering of shares, and the ability to redeem shares rather than holding them until dissolution of the fund and a set of clear investment restrictions as well as policies.

The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed greatly hampered the growth of pooled investments until a succession of landmark securities laws, beginning with the Securities Act, 1933 and concluded with the Investment Company Act, 1940, reinvigorated investor confidence. Renewed investor confidence and many innovations led to relatively steady growth in industry assets and number of accounts.

THE MUTUAL FUND INDUSTRY IN INDIA:

The mutual fund industry in India started in 1963 with the formation of Unit Trust of India (UTI) at the initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Government of India. The objective then was to attract small investors and introduce them to market investments. Since then, the history of mutual funds in India can be broadly divided into six distinct phases.

Phase I (1964-87): Growth Of UTI:

In 1963, UTI was established by an Act of Parliament. As it was the only entity offering mutual funds in India, it had a monopoly. Operationally, UTI was set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but was later delinked from the RBI. The first scheme, and for long one of the largest launched by UTI, was Unit Scheme 1964.

Later in the 1970s and 80s, UTI started innovating and offering different schemes to suit the needs of different classes of investors. Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) was launched in 1971. The first Indian offshore fund, India Fund was launched in August 1986. In absolute terms, the investible funds corpus of UTI was about Rs 600 crores in 1984. By 1987-88, the assets under management (AUM) of UTI had grown 10 times to Rs 6,700 crores.

Phase II (1987-93): Entry of Public Sector Funds:

The year 1987 marked the entry of other public sector mutual funds. With the opening up of the economy, many public sector banks and institutions were allowed to establish mutual funds. The State Bank of India established the first non-UTI Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund in November 1987. This was followed by Canbank Mutual Fund,LIC Mutual Fund, Indian Bank Mutual Fund, Bank of India Mutual Fund, GIC Mutual Fund and PNB Mutual Fund. From 1987-88 to 1992-93, the AUM increased from Rs 6,700 crores to Rs 47,004 crores, nearly seven times. During this period, investors showed a marked interest in mutual funds, allocating a larger part of their savings to investments in the funds.

Phase III (1993-96): Emergence of Private Funds:

A new era in the mutual fund industry began in 1993 with the permission granted for the entry of private sector funds. This gave the Indian investors a broader choice of 'fund families' and increasing competition to the existing public sector funds. Quite significantly foreign fund management companies were also allowed to operate mutual funds, most of them coming into India through their joint ventures with Indian promoters.

The private funds have brought in with them latest product innovations, investment management techniques and investor-servicing technologies. During the year 1993-94, five private sector fund houses launched their schemes followed by six others in 1994-95.

Phase IV (1996-99): Growth And SEBI Regulation:

Since 1996, the mutual fund industry scaled newer heights in terms of mobilization of funds and number of players. Deregulation and liberalization of the Indian economy had introduced competition and provided impetus to the growth of the industry.

A comprehensive set of regulations for all mutual funds operating in India was introduced with SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations, 1996. These regulations set uniform standards for all funds. Erstwhile UTI voluntarily adopted SEBI guidelines for its new schemes. Similarly, the budget of the Union government in 1999 took a big step in exempting all mutual fund dividends from income tax in the hands of the investors. During this phase, both SEBI and Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI) launched Investor Awareness Programme aimed at educating the investors about investing through MFs.

Phase V (1999-2004): Emergence of a Large and Uniform Industry:

The year 1999 marked the beginning of a new phase in the history of the mutual fund industry in India, a phase of significant growth in terms of both amount mobilized from investors and assets under management. In February 2003, the UTI Act was repealed. UTI no longer has a special legal status as a trust established by an act of Parliament. Instead it has adopted the same structure as any other fund in India - a trust and an AMC.

UTI Mutual Fund is the present name of the erstwhile Unit Trust of India (UTI). While UTI functioned under a separate law of the Indian Parliament earlier, UTI Mutual Fund is now under the SEBI's (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 like all other mutual funds in India.

The emergence of a uniform industry with the same structure, operations and regulations make it easier for distributors and investors to deal with any fund house. Between 1999 and 2005 the size of the industry has doubled in terms of AUM which have gone from above Rs 68,000 crores to over Rs 1,50,000 crores.

Phase VI (From 2004 Onwards): Consolidation and Growth:

The industry has lately witnessed a spate of mergers and acquisitions, most recent ones being the acquisition of schemes of Allianz Mutual Fund by Birla Sun Life, PNB Mutual Fund by Principal, among others. At the same time, more international players continue to enter India including Fidelity, one of the largest funds in the world.

ADVANTAGES OF MUTUAL FUNDS:

Mutual fund investments in stocks, bonds and other instruments require considerable expertise and constant supervision, to allow an investor to take the right decisions. Small investors usually do not have the necessary expertise and time to undertake any study that can facilitate informed decisions. While this is the predominant reason for the popularity of mutual funds, there are many other benefits that make mutual funds appealing.

Diversification Benefits:

Diversified investment improves the risk return profile of the portfolio. Optimal diversification has limitations due to low liquidity among small investors. The large corpus of a mutual fund as compared to individual investments makes optimal diversification possible. Due to the pooling of capital, individual investors can derive benefits of diversification.

Low Transaction Costs:

Mutual fund transactions are generally very large. These large volumes attract lower brokerage commissions and other costs as compared to smaller volumes of the transactions that individual investors enter into. The brokers quote a lower rate of commission due to two reasons. The first is competition for the institutional investors business. The second reason is that the overhead cost of executing a trade does not differ much for large and small orders. Hence for a large order these costs spread over a large volume enabling the broker to quote a lower commission rate.

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The origin of mutual fund industry in India is with the introduction of the concept of mutual fund by UTI in the year 1963. Though the growth was slow, but it accelerated from the year 1987 when non-UTI players entered the industry. In the past decade, Indian mutual fund industry had seen a dramatic imporvements, both qualitywise as well as quantitywise. Before, the monopoly of the market had seen an ending phase, the Assets Under Management (AUM) was Rs. 67bn. The private sector entry to the fund family rose the AUM to Rs. 470 bn in March 1993 and till April 2004, it reached the height of 1,540 bn. Putting the AUM of the Indian Mutual Funds Industry into comparison, the total of it is less than the deposits of SBI alone, constitute less than 11% of the total deposits held by the Indian banking industry. The main reason of its poor growth is that the mutual fund industry in India is new in the country. Large sections of Indian investors are yet to be intellectuated with the concept. Hence, it is the prime responsibility of all mutual fund companies, to market the product correctly abreast of selling. The mutual fund industry can be broadly put into four phases according to the development of the sector. Each phase is briefly described as under. First Phase - 1964-87 Unit Trust of India (UTI) was established on 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It was set up by the Reserve Bank of India and functioned under the Regulatory and administrative control of the Reserve Bank of India. In 1978 UTI was delinked from the RBI and the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) took over the regulatory and administrative control in place of RBI. The first scheme launched by UTI was Unit Scheme 1964. At the end of 1988 UTI had Rs.6,700 crores of assets under management. Second Phase - 1987-1993 (Entry of Public Sector Funds) Entry of non-UTI mutual funds. SBI Mutual Fund was the first followed by Canbank Mutual Fund (Dec 87), Punjab National Bank Mutual Fund (Aug 89), Indian Bank Mutual Fund (Nov 89), Bank of India (Jun 90), Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund (Oct 92). LIC in 1989 and GIC in 1990. The end of 1993 marked Rs.47,004 as assets under management. Third Phase - 1993-2003 (Entry of Private Sector Funds) With the entry of private sector funds in 1993, a new era started in the Indian mutual fund industry, giving the Indian investors a wider choice of fund families. Also, 1993 was the year in which the first Mutual Fund Regulations came into being, under which all mutual funds, except UTI were to be registered and governed. The erstwhile Kothari Pioneer (now merged with Franklin Templeton) was the first private sector mutual fund registered in July 1993. The 1993 SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations were substituted by a more comprehensive and revised Mutual Fund Regulations in 1996. The industry now functions under the SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations 1996. The number of mutual fund houses went on increasing, with many foreign mutual funds setting up funds in India and also the industry has witnessed several mergers and acquisitions. As at the end of January 2003, there were 33 mutual funds with total assets of Rs. 1,21,805 crores. The Unit Trust of India with Rs.44,541 crores of assets under management was way ahead of other mutual funds. Fourth Phase - since February 2003 This phase had bitter experience for UTI. It was bifurcated into two separate entities. One is the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India with AUM of Rs.29,835 crores (as on January 2003). The Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India, functioning under an administrator and under the rules framed by Government of India and does not come under the purview of the Mutual Fund Regulations. The second is the UTI Mutual Fund Ltd, sponsored by SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC. It is registered with SEBI and functions under the Mutual Fund Regulations. With the bifurcation of the erstwhile UTI which had in March 2000 more

than Rs.76,000 crores of AUM and with the setting up of a UTI Mutual Fund, conforming to the SEBI Mutual Fund Regulations, and with recent mergers taking place among different private sector funds, the mutual fund industry has entered its current phase of consolidation and growth. As at the end of September, 2004, there were 29 funds, which manage assets of Rs.153108 crores under 421 schemes. The major players in the Indian Mutual Fund Industry are:

GROWTH IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT

Note: Erstwhile UTI was bifurcated into UTI Mutual Fund and the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India effective from February 2003. The Assets under management of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India has therefore been excluded from the total assets of the industry as a whole from February 2003 onwards.