HDFC Manufacturing Fund raises over Rs 9,500 crore

Mumbai: HDFC Manufacturing Fund raised between ₹9,500 crore and ₹10,000 crore – the highest by an actively-managed equity mutual fund in a new fund offer (NFO) in the past three years. Financial planners and distributors said heightened investor appetite for the manufacturing theme – a red hot theme on Dalal Street – in the wake of the government‘s big push for industries in the country led to flows into the fund launch. An email sent to HDFC Mutual Fund on the amount of the corpus raised did not elicit a response.

Distributors said the new fund offer garnered money from retail investors, high-networth investors, and family offices.

Some wealth managers said high-pitch advertising and marketing by fund houses and distributors along with strong returns from equity schemes have led to strong money flows into NFOs. Many investors used the new fund to diversify their existing portfolios.

“Most of the actively managed diversified equity mutual funds have a high allocation to banking, IT, and FMCG. Exposure to manufacturing will help investors diversify portfolios,” says Harshvardhan Roongta, chief financial planner, Roongta Securities.

The previous highest money in an equity NFO was raised by ICICI Prudential Flexi Cap which raised ₹10,063 crore in July 2021. SBI Balanced Advantage Fund, which invests in a mix of debt and equity, raised ₹14,800 crore, the highest ever in a NFO in August 2021.