HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (HDFCAMC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, good day, and welcome to Q1 FY '26 Earnings Conference Call of HDFC Asset Management Company Limited. From the management team, we have with us Mr. Navneet Munot, Mr. Naozad Sirwalla and Mr. Simal Kanuga. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Simal Kanuga, who will give us a brief following which, we will proceed with the Q&A session. Thank you, and over to you, Simal.

Thank you so much. Good evening, everyone, and we hope that you had a chance to go through our presentation. Brief update on the industry. So the AUM stood at INR 74.4 trillion as of June 2025, reflecting a 22% Y-o-Y increase. Equity-oriented AUM crossed INR 43 trillion, up 21% over the same period. During the quarter, equity-oriented funds witnessed net inflows of INR 911 billion. A quick recap here. First quarter of last financial year had net new flows of INR 1,281 billion. And for the full financial year, number was INR 5,544 billion. Almost all equity categories recorded net inflows during the quarter. In fact, this was the 52nd consecutive month of positive net flows for actively managed equity-oriented funds. Based on the overall improved liquidity in the system, debt and liquid funds recorded net inflows of INR 1.34 trillion and INR 609 billion, respectively. Inflows in arbitrage funds added up to INR 431 billion and ETF attracted INR 264 billion. SIP flows remained strong with monthly contributions reaching INR 273 billion in June of 2025. The number of contributing accounts grew to INR 86.5 million compared to INR 67 million a year ago. SIP AUM crossed INR 15 trillion, and now accounts for 37% of the actively managed equity-oriented AUM. NFO during the quarter mobilized INR 65 billion across categories. The number of individual folios increased to 240 million, 26% year-on-year growth. Now we move to us. Our closing AUM crossed INR 8.5 trillion with an overall market share of 11.5% and a Y-o-Y growth of 21%. Excluding ETF, our market share was 12.8%. Actively managed equity-oriented assets grew by 19% year-on-year and crossed INR 5 trillion with a market share of 12.8%. On the fixed income side, debt and liquid AUM grew by 22% and 17% Y-o-Y, respectively, with market share of 13.3% and 12.6%. Our quarterly average AUM mix remained steady with equity-oriented assets accounting for 64.2%. We added 0.5 million unique customers during the quarter, 500,000, while the industry added 1 million. As a result, our unique investor penetration now accounts for 25% of mutual fund investors in the country. Our systematic book crossed INR 40 billion in month of June. The comparable number for June 2024 was INR 32 billion. AUM under SIPs crossed INR 2 trillion during the quarter. Our share of individual equity monthly average AUM for June 2025 stood at 13.1%, reinforcing our position as one of the most preferred choice amongst individual investors. Now to financials. Our revenue from operations grew by 25% year-on-year to be at INR 9,678 million. Other income grew by 34% year-on-year, aided by mark-to-market on both equity and debt. Total cost for this quarter was INR 2,144 million as against INR 1,959 million in Q1 of last year. Operating profit for the year grew by 30% year-on-year with a stable operating profit margin of 36 basis points of AUM. Our profit after tax grew to INR 7,480 million, a growth of 24% year-on-year. Thank you so much. Navneet, Naozad and I are here to take questions from here on. Nirav, we can start building the question queue, please.

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Shreya Shivani from CLSA India.

I have 3 questions for you. My first question is on the yields for the quarter. Can you help us understand -- can you share the indicative yields across equity debt, liquid ETF segments? And also a commentary on why there has been a yield expansion in this quarter versus the previous quarter on Q-o-Q basis, why has there been an expansion? My second question is on the ESOP and the PSU plan that you announced in June and there was one announced today also, but that was a much smaller one. Can you help us understand what will be the cost implication of that entire plan? How will it be split over the next 3, 4 years? And how should we build our expenses going ahead? And my third question is on the new asset class. Where are we in terms of setting up the team, launching of the product, et cetera? Any update on that will be useful.

So yield we can start...

So I'll start with the yield. So the equity yields for the quarter broadly in line with the previous quarter, about 58, 59 basis points for equity. Debt is between 27 and 28 basis points and liquid were between 12 and 13. I think on an overall blended basis, we are at 46 basis points for the quarter, which is almost in line with what we have been having for the last couple of quarters. So it's pretty much in line, actually, not really any material expansion, I would say.

Somehow, it seems like okay -- I'll get back I'll check this offline, but it seems like there's a big expansion, more than 1 bp expansion in the quarter is what I feel as per...

No, I think we can take it offline, Shivani.

Yes, yes. Sorry, yes, let's move to the next question.

On the questions on ESOPs and PSUs, maybe a bit of background. So in 2020, we had obtained shareholders' approval for around 32 lakh shares, of which we had issued 23 lakh shares at various points in time. That scheme provided for equal vesting over 3 years. So we have done that scheme and the balance 8.7 lakh shares, which were not issued then have been canceled. So looking at the dynamics and the long-term orientation of the organization, we came out with a new scheme for ESOPs and performing stock units, which have a vesting of 4 years. The new scheme has a back-ended vesting of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% for stock options over the first, second, third and fourth year. Similarly, for vesting of PSUs, it is vesting 30% in the third year and 70% in the fourth year. The NRC in their meeting on June 20, 2025 had issued 10-odd lakh ESOPs and 2.28 lakhs performing stock units. PSUs are not issued to Navneet and his direct reports have been designated as HODs. And furthermore, PSUs are linked with performance parameters. So our estimate as per Black-Scholes suggests that the noncash ESOP and PSU-related expense would be between INR 205 crores to INR 210 crores over the vesting period. This, of course, is an estimate based on assumptions around attrition rates, volatility and other relevant inputs. So the scheme would broadly result in a noncash charge of about INR 56 crores in FY '26, around INR 63 crores in FY '27, INR 51-odd crores in FY '28, INR 32 crores in FY '29 and about INR 6-odd crores in FY '30. These are again broad estimates as we speak today. There is also a stub of the residual cost of the previous ESOP scheme, which was issued -- which was the shares issued earlier. That's around INR 14 crores, INR 11 crores of which is for FY '26 and INR 3 crores in FY '27. Again, I would like to end this by stating that over the last 5 years, we have recognized around INR 180 crores as ESOP-related expenses in our P&L. And as you know, we are -- we continue to manage our overall costs and have also not shied away from investing in our business, hiring people, expanding branch network, establishing new verticals as well as improving our digital infrastructure, et cetera.

Navneet, would you want to add on the ESOP part overall thought process?

No, no, sure, sure. While Naozad has explained it in detail. I will just add that the HDFC Group has consistently championed employee ownership across its companies. At HDFC AMC, we have no doubt that our people are central to delivering consistent sustainable long-term value to our clients and shareholders. So aligning employee interest with those of shareholders, clients and other stakeholders is fundamental to group's way of thinking. This reinforces our ethos while also responding to the evolving expectations of talent and the changing dynamics of industry. So I view this not as a cost, but as a long-term investment in building and retaining high-quality talent. Also, I would like to add one thing that under the new plan, ESOPs and PSU put together have been granted to over 800 people. That is 50% of our workforce across levels. So we are broadening ownership and deepening alignment. While the accounting charge is noncash in nature that Naozad has explained, so for FY '26, if I assume an average AUM of, let's say, INR 8.5 trillion, the estimated impact is well below 1 basis point of AUM or to be exact, about 0.8 basis points.

The third question was on SIF. Shreya, does this close your question on ESOP?

Yes, yes, yes. It does. Just the last question on SIF.

Sure. Thank you. So on SIF, We have secured the necessary approval from SEBI to set up a specialized investment fund and opens up an avenue for us to launch this product. Our ability to launch and scale new offerings rest on the strong foundation we have built, a large and diversified investor base and wide distribution network that enables quick and efficient market reach, team is currently focused on designing a thoughtful set of offerings within that, that aligns with our investment strength and risk management capabilities, reflect distributor and investors feedback and offers a balanced risk reward proposition to everyone. So I think I might have mentioned this earlier that our broader vision is very clear to serve as a comprehensive investment platform offering solutions across mutual funds, which includes both active and passive, portfolio management services and differentiated alternative strategies, which can meet the needs of a wide range of investors and a wide range of our partners.

Got it. And sir, just a follow-up on that. Is the hiring done for this team?

I mean we keep evaluating our investment capability, risk management capability and the product capability. And I'm sure you would give us a credit given our long track record on that. I will also, I mean, add one line that we don't mind not being the first, but our focus is on being the best and doing what's right for our customers and all stakeholders.

Next question is from the line of Ranvir Singh from HB Securities.

So I had a question like we have around INR 8,200 crores approx in our balance sheet. And when I see the notes to accounts, INR 7,500-odd crores is invested in mutual funds. So what kind of mutual funds are these? I'm aware that you guys have to invest a certain amount in your mutual funds. Why I'm asking this question is to understand the other income better.

So these are largely in debt mutual our own schemes. And we've given the breakup in the -- maybe give the breakup of the investments in the schedule to the deck.

Do you want to explain this, there is a Slide 29.

Yes, Page 29 of the shareholders, the presentation we load on the website has the details. So what is the specific question because we've already given the breakup. So the equity of the balance of the investment schedule around 10% is equity, 7.5% is arbitrage and the balance is in liquid and debt funds.

Next question is from the line of Centrum Broking.

My first question is towards this HDFC Bank. I mean HDFC Bank's contribution has kind of declined both in overall and equity. I know, I mean, in absolute terms, it must have increased. But why in percentage terms it can't increase from the current levels?

Yes. I think, see, the pie chart that you're looking at, right, it is basically, if other channels grow faster as compared to a bank, you will automatically see that pie chart shape up in the fashion it has. So it is not necessary that we are losing a share or anything in HDFC Bank scheme of things. But in terms of overall system, because of the way the fintechs are contributing in terms of SIP flows and others, direct as a proportion of that overall pie has been growing at a faster pace. So it is more of realignment rather than any kind of -- it's difficult to kind of decide on increase or decrease based on what you look at in that data point.

Okay. But HDFC Bank sells all the products, right? There is no kind of restriction on that?

It is an open architecture, yes.

All right. All right. And secondly, just wanted to know your outlook on debt and liquid, basically debt already had a good growth rate this quarter and even the liquid schemes also had a great kind of a growth rate. So just wanted to understand, are we introducing first of all, new products and second basically outlook for the entire year in terms of the growth rate?

I think the RBI taking series of measures to improve the liquidity in the system. I think the reduction in interest rates, CRR, all of that had a cumulative impact on debt market also becoming attractive for investors who are looking at yields, which have kind of like can be on a downward trajectory. And I think overall favorable backdrop for the debt markets and by extension for debt mutual funds. I think all of these measures have been good for us. We remain constructive on the outlook for debt funds. You might have noticed that even at [indiscernible], we have relaunched our campaign to promote debt fund. And I think whenever liquidity in the system improves, that also helps and then people have positive view on the interest rate trajectory.

Okay. And any pipeline basically, I mean, for the launch of new products in this category?

I think we have best-in-class product range there. I think almost all the categories which are allowed by CBS for the classification are already available. In fact, in this quarter, if I remember correctly, the flows in the debt and liquid category put together for the mutual fund industry would be the highest ever, highest ever for the industry as a whole.

Next question is from the line of Gaurav Jani from Prabhudas Lilladher.

Congrats on a good quarter. Just taking the point forward on revenue, right? So my question was related to the yields. So the yields, of course, have been sort of flattish, but that in spite of a strong growth in equity sequentially and also overall, right, driven by equity. So what would have led to this?

So Gaurav, this is -- you would recall, right? We did some bit of rationalization in August of 2024. So you are seeing the impact of that over the last -- so if you're looking at, yes, the yields have been flattish year-on-year with a similar kind of asset mix and increased equity AUM, part of that can be attributed to the rationalization exercise we undertook last year.

Yes. But, Simal, so I get that, you just said sequentially also, some of the funds would have sort of breached that CR level, right? So I just want to understand why is there still a flattish sort of reported yield?

So it's basically a mix, right? What happens in terms of new asset sales or anything. Honestly, I would not -- we would request you not to read too much into expansion of yields or anything because that is not what we've been seeing. What tends to happen is certain other products get sold, some outgoing money would have been from a higher yielding or something. So mix of all of these things would have attributed, but there is no other specified reason for margins to kind of expand or anything. I think it has been exactly in the same lines as you pointed out with increased AUM.

Understood, sir. Lastly, on the other OpEx, right? So there's been a sequential increase. So can you help us understand the factors that would have led to this and could you quantify the [indiscernible] please?

So your question is between March quarter and June quarter?

That's correct. That's correct. I think INR 75 crores, INR 72 crores to INR 75 odd crores has gone up to about -- it increased by I think in [indiscernible] crores.

Yes. So some of it is the timing of the CSR expenditure actually, depending on how and when we spend our CSR spend, that moves the number. That's largely the material change.

Next question is from the line of Madhukar Ladha from Nuvama Wealth.

Congratulations on a great set of numbers. Just I wanted some comments around your net flow market share. See, SIP market share seems to have gone up sequentially, and you've done well there. But if I look at closing equity AUM, that's up about 12.5% on a Q-o-Q basis. Are we seeing slightly higher lump sum redemptions? So any comment around that? And probably on an overall basis, how are you seeing net inflow sort of market share shape up for you? So that will be helpful.

Our market share across all channels have been pretty healthy. That includes the national distributors, mutual fund distributors, fintech channel, investors who invest directly with us RIAs, so on and so forth. And we continue to get good share both in lump sum as well as in the SIPs. With the way you are computing and we have always mentioned that the change in share that you are noticing would be on account of flows on one side and the mark-to-market impact on other side. And different funds would move differently like you would see a difference between the way large caps would have moved compared to mid and small caps, hybrid funds may have different set of -- different amount of equity within that. So it's a combination of many things. But if your question is on trend in the flows, yes, I mean, we see encouraging trend there.

And on a quarter-on-quarter basis, are we maintaining our net inflow market share?

I think,Madhukar, we have always stated, right, we don't really necessarily comment on our net inflow share. But I think as Navneet touched upon, I think our overall net flow share -- net flow market share is higher than our book market share.

[Operator Instructions] next question is from the line of Prayesh Jain from Motilal Oswal.

Just a question on yields again. Could you give us a breakdown on the yields? Is it similar to what we have seen in the previous quarter?

Yes, we actually did reply to that, but I can give it again. So equity remain at 58, 59 basis points. Debt is 27, 28 basis points and liquid is 12 and 32, very much in line with...

Okay. Also on the debt front, is there any flow towards the longer duration? Or are we anticipating that? How should we think about this with the interest rate cuts happening? Do we see some traction already? Because I think the data suggests that at least the 1 year has started seeing some traction, but the longer duration months would see further traction going ahead?

No. Credit to our fixed income team, they were highlighting more than a year back that those were the good interest rates for long-term investors, and we saw decent traction from individual investors and some of the other corporate investors in the long-term funds. But the recent flow that I talked about in the last quarter, they are largely at the short end. But as an industry, all of us collectively have been making efforts to ensure that industry has got good product range and a good offering even on the fixed income side and mutual funds should not only be looked at as like equity investments by individual retail investors. We've been working very hard to promote fixed income also. And of course, some of the investors play fixed income through the hybrid funds.

Okay. And on the SIF, do you need to have a separate investment team altogether or your existing team can be utilized to do those as well?

No. I think a mix of both. I think from an overall investment team perspective, we have always mentioned that we have a deep pool of investment talent at our end. And then, of course, there is a lot of risk management and product capability that you need, which also we have.

Next question is from the line of Lalit Deo from Equirus Securities.

Congratulations on a good set of number. Sir, I have just 2 questions. Firstly, like in the previous quarter, you mentioned that so there we have seen some higher closures on the STP side of it. So just wanted to check like how is the current trend over there? Like are we seeing -- have you seen some stoppage in the closure rate over there or not? Just some comments over there. And secondly, like on the alternative side, we have seen some good ramp-up in the overall AUM from around INR 5,100 crores to around INR 6,000 crores. So like what has led to that sharp increase? And what kind of yield do we make in that segment currently?

So first question was on SIP accounts and closure, right?

STP sir.

STP, systematic transfer plan. So that's relatively is more volatile than the SIP flows. SIP flows are like very steady. People commit for much longer and a large part of the SIP book is these days, we are seeing longer and longer tenure getting committed at the beginning of the SIP when investors sign. On the STP, you may sometimes have investors who are kind of like investing in one debt fund or in liquid fund and transferring money from that over a period of time to equity or hybrid funds. Was that your question?

Yes, apart from that, there were like just on a sequential basis, actually, probably due to the weakness of the markets also, there were some more closures like in the last particular quarter...

SIP account closures. So I mean -- so when it comes to SIP, I would like to suggest to focus on 2 important data points that [indiscernible] discloses. One is SIP contribution and two is the number of contributing accounts. [indiscernible] has begun disclosing the number of contributing SIP accounts, which provides a more meaningful view of actual investor engagement. So to give you number, the contributing accounts increased to INR 8.6 crores in June '25 compared to INR 6.7 crores in June '24. The contribution amount touch the new peak that you would have seen, INR 27,269 crores in June '25 which is up from INR 21,262 crores a year earlier. So that's a growth of INR 6,000 crores. So while some fluctuations due to account closure or pauses are to be expected month-to-month. The broader trend remains intact, and we continue to see growing interest from investors and overall systemic investing.

Sure, sir. Second question was on the alternative side, actually.

On the alternative side, we have 2 things, right? One is basically, we did a venture capital private equity fund of fund, which we closed last year with INR 1,200-odd crores of AUM. We also are currently in the raise mode when it comes to credit fund. The increase in AUM has also happened based on some of the inflows that we have seen under our nondiscretionary portfolio management services accounts. In terms of yields, not very different as compared to our overall business.

Next question is from the line of Divij Punjabi from Banyan Tree Advisors.

I had 2 questions. One was regarding the growth in the passive segment. So we are seeing good growth over there. So if you could talk about the factors that have led to this. And two was around our strategy on launching new funds in the year, if you can touch upon that as well.

You're talking about the overall industry growth or at our end?

At your end.

Okay. No, I mean, we have got the full product range. And I think we have been one of the oldest player on the passive side. Our first index fund got launched in 2002 and continues to remain one of the largest index fund in the country. Over the last couple of years, we have significantly expanded our product offering, both on index fund as well as on the ETF side that includes market cap-based indices, smart beta, some of the sector thematic funds. So we've got the full product bouquet. We've got the best-in-class content and a seamless journey for investors to participate in that. We engage with partners who have been offering passive as their product bouquet. So trying to make every possible efforts to ensure that we get our fair share in that space. On the overall new product pipeline. So our current product suite is very well diversified. And as per the classification, we are present in almost all the categories that regulator allows. Within the sector and thematic category, wherever our investment team has a strong belief in terms of the product that we should offer where we have the investment capability, and we think that at least a set of investors and distributors would have a place for that kind of product, we continue to come out with that. Recently we did this NFO of Innovation Fund. So I think overall, our product bouquet has been pretty decent. And our endeavor is to keep gaining scale in each and every category and each and every product within that. So we are market leader in a couple of categories, let's say, balanced advantage fund or a mid-cap fund, flexi cap funds, small cap, but our ambition is to build leadership across the board, each and every product where we are present, given the long-term track record, given the investment capability and given the reach that we have, we want to ensure that we have leadership in every product where we are present.

Next question is from the line of Dipanjan Ghosh from Citi.

Just going back to one of the participant's previous question where you mentioned that your flow market share across most of the channel partners has been healthy. I think a similar question was your equity-oriented market share has broadly been stable over some time now. And if I look at -- and one of the reasons you pointed out is obviously the differential mark-to-market and composition of scheme within the equity oriented bucket, which is fair. But if I look at across schemes, it would probably be some schemes, let's say, product schemes where market share has kind of been down a little bit over the last 6, 9 months, and maybe some other categories, the market share is probably a little bit up on an AUM basis. So the question really is if you were to look at flows that you have seen over this past quarter over the past 9 months or maybe 12 months, has there been any sort of skew towards the categories, let's say, where your concentration within the portfolio, let's say, product categories where you are relatively more dominant or the mix of those categories within your portfolio relatively high. Has there been any sort of skew and ex of that, how are you seeing the flow trends across different scheme categories. We are quantifying in terms of the trajectory?

The flow trend has been pretty healthy, Dipanjan, I mentioned there. But on the mark-to-market side, if you look at like last one year, different indices would have performed differently. And again, as I said that within the hybrid funds depending on what the equity share you are running and the impact on the mark-to-market on the fixed income side also can have some impact on the way you look at the share. But otherwise, on the flows, I can tell you that it's been encouraging.

Got it. But fair to assume that, let say, across most of the large categories within the equity-oriented side, the flow market share has been holding up, if I were to kind of look at each individual category separately, just on a flow basis, sir?

By and large, yes, as an asset class. I mean within that different funds in some of the funds we will have exceptionally high share, in some of the funds, we would have slightly lower share. But if you look at equity as an asset-class, would be higher, yes.

And Dipanjan, if you are referring to holding up, definitely, yes, I think we have not seen a loss of share in any like a large category.

Next question is from the line of Abhijeet from Kotak Securities.

So I have a qualitative question. So like when we look at the portfolio, we have a really large balanced fund, which has like a defensive characteristic and then slightly outsized exposure towards the small and mid-cap fund. So as a franchise, is it possible? Or do you kind of intend to move money around of the customers across cycles whenever you kind of want to slow down flows in some of the smaller and mid-cap categories? Generally, the distributors take that call. But as an AMC, how do you really capture the existing relationship and be able to move that money across some of the other funds within the fund house itself?

We don't do the asset allocation on behalf of our partners or on behalf of our investors unless it's an asset allocation product. So in dynamic asset allocation, which is the balance advantage fund for us, the fund manager would do the -- some bit of allocation within the template that we would have or in a multi asset fund. But otherwise, I mean, we express our views. Our fund managers express their views on different asset classes within that different categories. So at different points in time, the fund manager of mid and a small cap, which is Chirag, could be expressing certain views while other fund managers may have a different view on what they think about the large cap category or a particular sector or a particular theme, then it's completely up to the partner or the end investor, where they want to do money. We don't give like very aggressive calls on investors should shift money from this place to this place. We have always believed and if you look at several of our funds, which have got track record going back 20 or 25 or even 30 years. I think our belief has been investors keeping their money for the long run. Having that strategic asset allocation has kind of like -- has deliver the best possible results. Too much of that tactical asset allocation and trying to react to every, I would say, market move doesn't really result in the best possible value creation for the investor. That is what our experience of last 25 years suggest, and this is what we keep guiding our partners and investors.

Got it. And then just a follow-up. Like do we have any number or do we kind of track the number of products per customer? Or is there a correlation between once you have a customer holding more than 1 or 2 funds, the relationship tends to be a more stickier one?

Yes. I mean, endeavor, as I mentioned earlier in a different context that we would like to optimize or maximize our share within each and every category. And that includes both, I mean, getting new customers and of course, kind of like offering other products to the existing investors.

[Operator Instructions] As there are no further questions, I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Navneet Munot for closing comments.

Sure. So to summarize, our closing AUM crossed hit INR 8.5 trillion, systematic transactions, which includes both SIP as well as STP that stood at INR 40.1 billion in June 2025. And we added 0.5 million unique investors during the quarter. I would reiterate also our mission and vision. Our mission is to be the wealth creator for every Indian. And our vision is to be the most respected asset manager in the world. Thank you.

Thank you very much. On behalf of HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.