Women fund managers handle 12.63% of AUM: Morningstar

Assets under management (AUM) of the domestic mutual fund (MF) market handled by women fund managers is ₹6.66 lakh crore, or 12.63%, according to a survey by Morningstar Investment Research.

The report states that there has been a significant year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase of 50% in the assets handled by women.

The mutual fund sector crossed the ₹50 lakh crore asset under management threshold for the first time in 2024. The total AUM increased by 33%, from ₹39.62 lakh crore last year to ₹52.74 lakh crore as of January 31, 2024.

“The assets managed/co-managed by women saw a sharp uptick compared with last year when women managed/co-managed about ₹4.44 lakh crores, a phenomenal growth of 50%,” Morningstar says.

Although the assets managed or co-managed by women are growing, their share of the assets in the sector as a whole hasn't yet risen to a notable level. Positively, though, after declining over the previous two years, the assets did experience a percentage uptick this year.

The departure of two well-known female fund managers followed a decline in the previous year. In the equity and growth group, most assets- ₹2.86 lakh crore, or 43%, are managed or co-managed.

“Female fund managers exhibit versatility across various asset classes. The most assets—₹2.86 lakh crores, or 43%—are managed/co-managed in the equity/growth asset class, followed by the allocation asset class at ₹1.68 lakh crores, or 25.3%,” Morningstar says.

“Although the assets managed/co-managed by women are increasing, their percentage relative to the overall industry assets hasn't reached a noteworthy level yet. However, on a positive note, the assets in percentage terms did see an increase this year after witnessing regression in the past two years,” the report adds.

The latest findings of the report show that out of 473 fund managers, 42 are females either as primary or secondary managers spread across 21 fund houses. Five fund houses had three or more female fund managers, five fund houses had two female fund managers, and 11 fund houses had at least one female fund manager.

When it comes to tenure, 10 fund managers are managing/co-managing funds consistently for five years or more. Seven fund managers are managing/co-managing funds between three and five years, and 25 fund managers are managing/co-managing funds for less than three years.

The proportion of female fund managers has slightly decreased from 9.18% to 8.88% as there hasn't been a rise in their numbers since last year.