Wealthy investors seem to have more faith in portfolio managers or advisory services as the assets under management of such entities touched Rs10.24 lakh crore in the Indian capital market at January-end. Assets base of portfolio managers, who mostly manage investments or provide advisory services to High Networth Individuals (HNIs), stood at Rs8.95 lakh crore in January 2015.
According to Securities and Exchange Board of India, Assets Under Management (AUM) of portfolio managers was at Rs10.24 lakh crore at the end of January as against Rs10.41 lakh crore in the preceding month. Portfolio managers individually handled assets worth Rs7,92,019 crore for discretionary services, besides Rs1,73,773 crore for advisory services and another Rs57,886 crore for non-discretionary investments during the period under review.
Of the total assets managed by portfolio mangers, about Rs7.18 lakh crore was contributed by employee provident fund organisation (EPFO) or provident fund (PF), Sebi data showed. Besides, the number of clients rose to 59,294 in January this year from 46,701 in the year-ago period.
A portfolio manager is a body corporate who, pursuant to a contract or arrangement with a client, advises or directs or undertakes on behalf of the client (whether as a discretionary portfolio manager or otherwise), management of a portfolio of securities or the funds of the client.