Debt-oriented mutual funds have continued to give positive returns in February, while almost all the equity schemes ended in the negative, a latest study said.

According to Crisil FundServices, provider of fund evaluation and risk solutions to the Indian MF industry, debt funds showed positive momentum, while equity funds continued to slide in February.

The highest monthly returns came from the liquid fund index, Crisil-LX, which was up by 0.66 per cent. This was followed by the Crisil STBEX, the debt index serving as benchmark for short-term bond funds and Crisil Fund-dX, the long-term bond funds index. These returned 0.30 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.

Negative returns in this segment came only from the Crisil MF-Gilt index, the gilt funds index, which ended lightly lower at (0.02 per cent), a Crisil release said.

Meanwhile, all indices with equity components ended in negative over the month. The Crisil Fund-eX, the index for diversified equity funds, declined by 4.34 per cent, Crisil Fund-bX, the index for balanced funds, dropped 3.36 per cent.

Crisil MIPEX, the index used as a benchmark for monthly income plans, was down marginally by 0.13 per cent, it added.

In February, Reliance Mutual Fund continued to top the asset rally with average assets of Rs 93,531 crore (Rs 935.31 billion), up 11.5 per cent over January. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund retained the second spot, with average assets of Rs 59,277 crore (Rs 592.77 billion), up 3.8 per cent, and UTI Mutual Fund was at third place with average assets of Rs 52,464 crore, down 7.8 per cent from January. 

Most fund houses registered a drop in average Assets Under Management, except seven asset management companies, which were able to show AUM growth, the release said.

The industry's average February AUM (including fund of funds) dipped by almost 1 per cent to Rs 5.65 trillion. "The dip in AUMs was primarily due to uncertainty in the equity markets and tight liquidity conditions. However, inflows from NFOs (new fund offers) and FMPs (fixed maturity plans) helped curtail the fall to some extent," Crisil FundServices Head Krishnan Sitaraman said.

The top three companies in terms of absolute gains in average AUM were Reliance Mutual Fund, Birla Sun Life MF and ICICI Prudential MF. In percentage terms, the top three gainers were Reliance Mutual Fund (11.5 per cent), Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (8 per cent), and Lotus India Mutual Fund (8 per cent).