New Delhi: After a gap of three months, the mutual fund industry witnessed an increase in assets under management by over Rs16,000 crore in December on moderate recovery in the stock markets.

The total assets under management of the country’s 34 mutual fund houses have soared to Rs418,334.65 crore following an increase of Rs16,307 crore at the end of December 2008, according to the data of the Association of Mutual Funds in India.

The total assets under management (AUM) were Rs4.02 lakh crore in December 2008.

“With the stock markets recovering 10-15% in a month, mutual funds assets increased in the terms of mark to market valuation,” Taurus Mutual Fund Managing director RK Gupta said.

Reliance mutual fund retained its position as the country’s top fund house with an AUM of Rs70,208 crore. The AUM rose by over Rs2,392.24 crore in December 2008.

HDFC mutual fund maintained its second position with an AUM of Rs46,757.45 crore in December, an increase of Rs2,495.45 crore from November 2008.

“Some fund houses also saw fresh inflows, which were coupled with positive market sentiments,” Gupta added.

Meanwhile, UTI mutual fund added Rs4,190.03 crore at Rs42,548.17 crore in December to retain its third position.

Meanwhile, the AUM of ICICI Prudential mutual fund rose the most by Rs4,821.84 crore to Rs41,877.52 crore.