he year ending January 31, 2005, saw many investors running towards mutual funds.

And fund managers could not wipe the smiles off their faces as they added Rs 6,787.55 crore (Rs 67 billion approximately) to their kitty.

But all were not on equal footing.

Let us see who gained the most money, who actually lost money, and who have the most under their belt. 

The Five Richest (Assets Under Management):

1. UTI Mutual Fund: Rs 20,707.21 crore (Rs 207 billion).

2. Prudential ICICI [Get Quote] Mutual Fund: Rs 16,600.54 crore (Rs 166 billion).

3. Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund: Rs 15,409.15 crore (Rs 154 billion).

4. HDFC [Get Quote] Mutual Fund: Rs 14,490.10 crore (Rs 144 billion).

5. Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund: Rs 9,925.38 crore (Rs 99 billion).

Together, these five funds control more than half the assets of the Indian mutual fund industry.

Top Five Gainers (money added to their AUM):

1. HSBC Mutual Fund added a whopping Rs 3,434.49 crore (Rs 34 billion) to its AUM.

2. Tata TD Mutual Fund's assets swelled by an impressive Rs 3,392.60 crore (Rs 33 billion).

The huge success of the Tata Infrastructure Fund IPO, that collected Rs 772 crore (Rs 7.72 billion) in January 2005, helped the asset management company clock a massive 87.61% rise in its AUM.

3. Principal Mutual Fund added Rs 1,964.27 crore (Rs 19 billion) to its asset base.

4. ABN Amro Mutual Fund, launched in September 2004, gained Rs 1,157.87 crore (Rs 11 billion).

5. Reliance Capital [Get Quote] Mutual Fund secured an additional Rs 1,136.06 crore (Rs 11 billion).

Top Five Losers (actually saw investors sell their units and withdraw their money):

1. LIC [Get Quote] Mutual Fund shed Rs 1,405.06 crore (Rs 14 billion).

2. JM Financial [Get Quote] Mutual Fund lost Rs 992 crore (Rs 9 billion).

3. Sundaram Mutual Fund lost Rs 901.45 crore (Rs 9 billion).

4. Alliance Capital Mutual Fund assets declined by Rs 874.67 crore (Rs 8 billion).

5. The surprise entrant to the category of the top five losers, however, is HDFC Mutual Fund that lost Rs 829.23 crore (Rs 8 billion) of its assets.

Interestingly, HDFC Mutual Fund, despite appearing in the top five losers' list, has managed to still feature in the Richest Fund list.

Click here to see the top 5 equity funds of 2004 in terms of performance.

Value Research is a mutual fund research outfit.