Mumbai: Assets under management of the mutual fund industry in the country rose to Rs4,86,513 crore as of end-July, up 21.5 per cent from Rs4,00,333 crore a month ago - adding Rs86,180 ($20 billion) to their Rs400,333 crore ($100-billion) kitty.

The sharp increase in assets under management of domestic mutual funds have been driven by fresh capital raised through new fund offerings (NFOs) as well as a sharp rally in stock markets, latest data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed.

Reliance Equity Advantage Fund and Franklin Templeton High Group Companies led the NFO charge. A sharp rally in the stock market during the month also aided business expansion of asset base of fund houses.

Reliance Mutual Fund remains the country''s largest fund house with AUM of Rs66, 420.03 crore in July as against Rs59,857.01 crore, up 10 per cent, in June, AMFI said.
ICICI Prudential remained at the second slot, adding Rs5, 074.8 crore to its AUM in July to the June figure of Rs48,688.55 crore, while public sector UTI MF ranks third with assets worth Rs42, 547.60 crore in July.

HDFC MF and Franklin Templeton MF had assets under management of Rs40, 153.47 crore and Rs32,213.84 crore, respectively in July.

In July, Reliance MF raised Rs2,700 crore through its new scheme, Reliance Equity Advantage Fund. Reliance MF''s president Vikrant Gugnani attributed the fund''s success to its strategy of rapidly expanding retail presence across markets.

Franklin Templeton High Growth Companies NFO collected around Rs1,515 crore in July.

Mutual funds have also been sellers in equities with a net sale of Rs900.60 crore in July even as they bought over Rs12,800 crore in debt markets.