Compare mutual fund houses: AUM, schemes and costs

Why look at the fund house at all

People choose funds, not fund houses, and that is mostly right. But the house decides a lot that every one of its funds shares: how it prices its Direct plans, how many overlapping schemes it runs, and who manages the money. The fund house pages put those facts on one page per house. This post compares two houses of almost the same size using only what those pages show, as of 15 October 2026.

Step 1: the list of houses

Mutual Fund Companies in India lists all 55 fund houses, ranked by AUM for July to September 2026. Each card shows the rank, the AUM and the change from the previous quarter. The AUM is each house's quarterly average excluding fund-of-funds, from AMFI's fund-wise disclosure. Houses newer than the latest disclosure show without a figure. The top three were SBI at ₹13,09,607 crore, ICICI Prudential at ₹11,55,871 crore and HDFC at ₹9,69,076 crore. The largest fund houses for July to September covers the full ranking.

Step 2: what a house page shows

Open a house and the page leads with three tiles: AUM for the latest quarter, Industry rank and Schemes tracked. Where filings provide them, the custodian, registrar, auditor and official website follow. Then, in order:

• Top funds by 3Y returns: up to 15 schemes, one row each with the Direct plan preferred, showing stars, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y, expense ratio and AUM.
• AUM over time, quarter by quarter.
• Categories the house competes in, linked to each category's ranked list.
• Fund managers, linked to each manager's record.
• Fund houses nearby in AUM, for neighbours to compare with.
• All schemes, and the house's recent news and an FAQ.

Worked example: Franklin Templeton and Canara Robeco

Franklin Templeton and Canara Robeco sit next to each other in the ranking, so size does not separate them.

"Schemes tracked" counts each plan and option separately, so it overstates distinct funds, but the ratio still says something. Franklin runs a broader shelf, 36 sub-categories against 24, including overseas fund-of-funds and several thematic funds. Over the year Franklin's AUM grew about 8.6% and Canara Robeco's about 3.9%.

The cost comparison

The useful comparison is the same category in both houses. Six equity categories appear in both top-15 tables:

All figures are Direct plan, Growth option. Canara Robeco's fund was cheaper in all six categories, by 0.24 to 0.85 percentage points a year, and had the higher 3-year return in five of the six. The cost gap is the more durable of the two findings. Returns move with markets and managers; an expense ratio is charged every year regardless. Equity fund expense ratios by fund house runs the same comparison across every house.

Franklin's top-15 table is led by a different kind of fund: Franklin U.S. Opportunities Equity Active Fund of Funds at 23.32% a year over three years, then Franklin Asian Equity Fund at 20.72%. Canara Robeco's is led by its Infrastructure Fund at 16.74%. A house's top table reflects its shelf, and an overseas fund-of-funds ranks against domestic equity there.

Reading a house page well

1. Compare like with like. Put the same category from two houses side by side, as above; the house-wide average mixes debt, equity and fund-of-funds.
2. Check the manager list. A house's record in a category is really one or two people's record; checking a fund manager's record shows how.
3. Use the neighbours list to find comparable houses quickly.
4. For a house-level view of returns, fund houses ranked on equity funds against their categories does what a single page cannot.

What a fund house page does not do

It does not rate the house, and a house's size says little about any one fund. AUM is AMFI's quarterly average, so it lags by up to a quarter. The top-15 table ranks on 3-year return, which favours whatever suited the last three years. The AMC, trustee, custodian and registrar guide explains what each named party does. Nothing here is a recommendation to invest with any fund house.