What is AUM (Assets Under Management)?

AUM (Assets Under Management) is the total amount of money a mutual fund scheme manages on behalf of all its investors. A ₹20,000 Cr AUM fund holds ₹20,000 crore of investors' money.

Is a bigger AUM better?

It depends on the category:

• Large-cap & debt: a big AUM is usually fine — even good. It signals trust, spreads fixed costs (lower expense ratio) and these segments are liquid enough to deploy large sums.
• Small-cap: a very large AUM can be a handicap. Small-cap stocks are illiquid, so a huge fund struggles to buy or sell without moving prices, which can drag returns. Some great small-cap funds even stop taking fresh money.

How to use it

Don't pick a fund on AUM alone. Use it as a sanity check: avoid extremely tiny funds (under ~₹100–500 Cr) which can be unstable, and be cautious of bloated small-cap funds.

→ See and sort funds by AUM in the MF Screener.