In 2022, mutual fund companies introduced a record 149 schemes, up from 117 in 2021, covering open- and close-ended, active and passive, debt and equity-related schemes.
However, despite the number of launches exceeding last year's schemes, mutual funds raised Rs. 53,700 crore through new fund offerings (NFOs) in 2022, much lower than ₹1 trillion in 2021.
A new fund offer (NFO) is the initial subscription offer made by asset management companies for a new scheme. It is usually issued in the market to generate funds from the public in order to purchase market securities such as shares, government bonds, and so on.
Industry experts claimed that this year's reduced collections were mostly due to the lack of new releases in well-liked categories. Usually, only NFOs from well-known fund companies in popular sectors see strong demand.
Out of the 149 schemes, only few were able to cross the ₹1,000 crore mark. The top three funds which generated highest collections are:
SBI Multicap Fund - Regular (Growth)
SBI Multicap Fund Regular Growth is an equity mutual fund scheme issued by SBI Mutual Fund with an Asset Under Management (AUM) of Rs. 12,191 crore. This scheme was made accessible to investors on March 8, 2022. The current fund manager of the SBI Multicap Fund is Rama Iyer Srinivasan.
ICICI Prudential Housing Opportunities Fund - Regular (Growth)
ICICI Prudential Housing Opportunities Fund is second on this list with an AUM of Rs. 2,663.86 crore. The NFO for this scheme opened on March 28 and was closed on April 11, 2022. The current Net Asset Value (NAV) of the ICICI Prudential Housing Opportunities Fund is ₹10.94 for the growth option of its regular plan.
ICICI Prudential Transportation and Logistics Fund - Regular (Growth)
The third position in this list is occupied by the ICICI Prudential Transportation and Logistics Fund with an AUM of Rs. 2,401.92 crore. It was launched on October 27, 2022, with a minimum investment requirement of Rs. 5,000. The current fund managers of the ICICI Prudential Transportation and Logistics Fund are Harish Bihani and Sharmila D’mello.
Here’s a list of the top 10 NFOs in terms of collections in 2022.
| Name of the scheme | Fund collected (in crores) |
| SBI Multicap Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 12,191 |
| ICICI Prudential Housing Opportunities Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 2,663.86 |
| ICICI Prudential Transportation and Logistics Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 2,401.92 |
| SBI CPSE Bond Plus SDL Sep 26 50:50 Regular- Growth | Rs. 1,732.34 |
| Sundaram Flexi Cap Regular- Growth | Rs. 1,731.71 |
| HSBC CRISIL IBX 50:50 GPS 0428 Regular- Growth | Rs. 1,605.83 |
| Baroda BNP Paribas Flexi Cap Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 1,480.86 |
| ICICI Prudential PSU Equity Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 1,221.21 |
| Franklin India Balanced Advantage Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 808.52 |
| Mirae Asset Balanced Advantage Fund Regular- Growth | Rs. 793.51 |
Note: The above data has been taken from a report by ET.
This year the top two fund houses, SBI MF and ICICI Prudential MF, were responsible for three of the top five highest-grossing NFOs. The majority of launches this year were in the passive debt fund category as fund houses waited in line to introduce target maturity funds (TMFs) in an effort to establish themselves as players in the developing category.
It is crucial to note that this year, MFs were also subject to a three-month ban on new releases. Fund houses were prohibited from releasing NFOs between April and June by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in March.
