Motilal Oswal, ICICI Prudential, and SBI Mutual Fund Lead Industry with Highest “Skin in the Game”

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Mumbai – When it comes to mutual funds, investors often look for confidence signals from fund managers themselves. One of the strongest indicators is how much the fund houses invest in their own schemes — often referred to as having “skin in the game.” A new analysis of June 2025 data by Cafemutual reveals that Motilal Oswal MF, ICICI Prudential MF, and SBI MF top the list in absolute terms, with the highest investments in their own funds.

Big Fund Houses, Big Commitments

At the top of the list, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund has invested a substantial ₹1,054 crore in its own schemes, representing 0.93% of its total assets under management (AUM) of ₹1.13 lakh crore. This puts Motilal Oswal ahead of much larger peers despite having a relatively smaller AUM base compared to giants like SBI MF or ICICI Prudential MF.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund follows with ₹961 crore invested in its own funds, although this represents just 0.10% of its total AUM of nearly ₹9.77 lakh crore. SBI Mutual Fund, the country’s largest asset manager with AUM of over ₹11.79 lakh crore, has ₹939 crore invested in its own schemes — accounting for 0.08% of its assets.

HDFC Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund complete the top five with ₹834 crore and ₹466 crore invested in their schemes respectively.

Percentage-Wise Leaders Tell a Different Story

While larger fund houses dominate the absolute numbers, the scenario changes when investments are considered as a percentage of total assets. Here, smaller and boutique fund houses lead.

• Shriram Mutual Fund emerges as the clear leader, with 2.69% of its AUM (₹28 crore out of ₹1,039 crore) invested in its own funds.

• Quantum Mutual Fund is second with 1.31% of its assets invested in its own schemes.

• Groww Mutual Fund, a relatively new entrant, stands at 1.21%, showing significant internal commitment.

Interestingly, NJ Mutual Fund also shows a high relative investment with 0.88% of AUM in its own funds.

This contrast indicates that while bigger AMCs contribute larger sums in absolute rupee terms, smaller fund houses display stronger proportional commitments — a sign of alignment with investor interests.

Regulatory Framework Driving Skin in the Game

The requirement for fund houses and their employees to invest in their own schemes originates from SEBI regulations, which mandate that designated employees of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) must invest 10% to 22.5% of their gross salaries (CTC) into their own funds. This framework was designed to ensure that fund managers and senior executives share risks and rewards with retail investors.

However, beyond the regulatory mandate, some fund houses have gone further in voluntarily increasing their stakes — signaling confidence in their products and processes.

Mixed Picture Across the Industry

The analysis also highlights wide variations across the 44 fund houses considered.

• Axis MF (₹465 crore, 0.14%), Kotak MF (₹447 crore, 0.08%), and PPFAS MF (₹432 crore, 0.35%) are among the mid-sized players showing moderate levels of commitment.

• Bandhan MF (₹384 crore, 0.21%) and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF (₹418 crore, 0.10%) also feature in the top 10.

• On the other end of the spectrum, Jio BlackRock MF (₹8 crore, 0.05%), Edelweiss MF (₹85 crore, 0.06%), and UTI MF (₹270 crore, 0.07%) have among the lowest proportional investments.

Boutique players such as Taurus MF (0.63%), Bajaj Finserv MF (0.25%), and Helios (0.26%) show stronger skin in the game despite smaller absolute figures.

What This Means for Investors

For retail investors, “skin in the game” serves as an additional layer of trust. When fund houses and their key employees put their own money into the same schemes, it reflects conviction in their strategies and ensures shared outcomes.

However, experts caution that this metric should not be seen in isolation. A higher percentage stake by a small fund house may not necessarily guarantee better performance, just as a lower percentage by a large AMC may not signal lack of commitment. Instead, it should be considered along with factors such as long-term performance, portfolio quality, risk management, and governance practices.

Industry Takeaway

The data highlights two key trends:

1. Absolute Scale vs. Proportional Commitment – Larger AMCs dominate in terms of rupee amounts invested, but smaller players show stronger proportional commitment.

2. Signal of Confidence – Regardless of size, AMCs investing in their own schemes project a positive signal of confidence to investors.

As the mutual fund industry continues to expand — with AUMs crossing ₹60 lakh crore industry-wide — “skin in the game” is likely to remain a closely tracked metric for assessing fund house credibility.

✅ Key Leaders in Absolute Terms: Motilal Oswal, ICICI Prudential, SBI MF
✅ Key Leaders in Percentage Terms: Shriram MF, Quantum MF, Groww MF

The investment of each fund house in its schemes and its share of its overall assets is shown below:

#MutualFunds #Investing #MotilalOswal #ICICIPru #SBIMF #SkinInTheGame #SEBI #WealthManagement #RetailInvestors