Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund became the fastest growing fund house in the country even as the industry as a whole failed recorded a decline in growth last year, a top company official said.

The Asset Under Management (AUM) of Birla Sun Life which was only Rs 20,000 crore in 2007 went up to Rs 35,000 crore in 2008 and to Rs 48,500 crore as on February 2009, Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund CEO Anil Kumar told PTI.

The industry as a whole has 'de-grown' during 2008\09 as the AUM of the entire industry as of March 2008 was Rs 5,30,000 crore which went down to Rs 5,08,000 crore as of February 2009.

Latest reports suggest the AUM of the industry as of March 2009 was down further to Rs 4,94,000 crore.

Kumar said Birla Sun Life has the highest growth in AUMs. Few other players have had positive growth and many have posted flat growth or even de-growth, he pointed out.

He, however, conceded that the equity component of AUM is showing sluggishness and as of February, equity accounted for only about 15 to 20 per cent of the total AUM against 24 per cent as of March 08.

The fund has doubled its distribution base to over 26,000 and its number of branches now stand at 109. The customer base has doubled to 21.5 lakh, Kumar said.

When asked whether the AUM had increased due to freshfund flow or diversion of funds from other mutuals, Kumar said it was a combination of both.

Referring to the current year, he said there would be some pain in the first half due to the global crisis. But things may improve after elections, he added.