How LIC Mutual Fund Is Targeting ₹1 Lakh Crore AUM

Perfect  here’s your full Hinglish conversation transcript rewritten exactly as spoken, with all meaning, lines, and order preserved. 
Only transliteration changes (Devanagari → Roman Hindi + English), nothing added or removed. 
Guest and host names are clearly marked.

[Opening Visuals – Glimpses of Ravi Kumar Jha speaking] 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 
LIC has covered almost 30 crore Indians towards LIC policies. 
Life insurance ke saath-saath jo hai, mutual fund ek zabardast vehicle hai jisme bahut accha wealth creation ho sakta hai — through SIP, through lumpsum. 
April 23, when I had joined LIC Mutual Fund, at that point of time our AUM was ₹16,526 crore, and aaj ki date ki main baat karun to we are close to ₹41,000 crore. 
So we are almost growing by 135–140% in the last two years. 
Mutual fund distributor aur an advisor is an extremely critical support and guide for an investor to start his investment journey. 

[Music fades in] 

[Intro Segment] 

Vivek Ananth (Host): 
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Bazaar & Beyond, where we deep dive into the world of finance, investing and more to help you make smart investment decisions. 
Aur main hoon aapka host, Vivek Ananth. 

Our guest today is Ravi Kumar Jha, MD & CEO of LIC Mutual Fund. 

LIC MF is embarking on an interesting journey  yeh ab apna focus equity funds par shift kar rahe hain aur naye retail investors ko target karke ₹1 lakh crore ka AUM achieve karna chahte hain by the end of this financial year. 

Ravi Kumar Jha started his career at LIC and is now steering LIC Mutual Fund through an aggressive strategy in reorienting the business towards mutual funds. 

Thank you Mr. Jha for joining us. 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 
Thank you Mr. Vivek for inviting me to this conversation. Thanks a lot. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Sir, I wanted to start off with the recent five equity funds that you have relaunched, and how the feedback has been from the distribution channels and your prospective investors and your investors who used to invest in your debt funds, which are the primary lines of the business. 
Aapne reorient kiya hai thoda business ko  uska feedback kaise raha hai? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Sabse pehle main aapke sabhi viewers ka aabhar prakat karta hoon aur unko thanks deta hoon ki aapne mujhe invite kiya Vivek ji for conversation and discussion on mutual funds. 

Jahan tak aapka prashn hai ki humne paanch equity funds ko relaunch kiya to uska primary objective yeh tha ki they came to us from the stable of IDBI Mutual Fund. 

Infact, we had merged IDBI Mutual Fund in the end of July 2023. Initially, their AUMs were very low. 
Out of these five products, four products were from IDBI AMC’s stable Dividend Yield Fund, Small Cap Fund, Value Fund, and Focused Fund — aur inki AUM bhi bahut kam thi. 
They were very low primarily because they had one major broker — IDBI Bank per se. 

Toh hum logon ne yeh socha ki why not take these four funds out of the five, market them aggressively, and popularize them across India. 

Lastly, we had taken our fifth fund also — Multi Asset Allocation Fund — jiska NFO hum log leke aaye the February–March mein, and we had got around ₹450 crore at that point of time. 

As you’ll remember, February–March mein market mein bahut volatility thi — because of several reasons, primarily due to US elections and the new President coming to USA, etc. 

So there was a lot of volatility. 
So we thought that we will take up these five funds Dividend Yield Fund, Small Cap Fund, Value Fund, Focused Fund, and Multi Asset Allocation Fund — and relaunch them so that we can make their AUMs bigger. 

To a very large extent, we’ve been successful in garnering attention of investors and distributors, and we’re getting extremely positive response. 

Jo hamari distributor segment hai  jaise ki aap jaante hain, LIC is primarily dependent upon distributor segment and LIC agents  toh wahan pe humko bahut accha attention, mind share aur wallet share mila hai investors ka. 

We have been successful in augmenting the AUM also. Initially, AUM was around ₹100 crore (except Multi Asset Allocation Fund). 

Now there are two-three funds, jaise Small Cap Fund, it is close to ₹600 crore. Dividend Yield Fund is also close to ₹600 crore. 
Value Fund and Focused Fund are close to ₹200 crore each. 

We see good participation from distributor fraternity, banking channels, and NDAs, everyone. 
We are getting fabulous support from customers and investors and not only that, it’s also because of our performance. 

Initially, our performance (when we merged IDBI Mutual Fund’s 20 schemes with ours in July 2023) was a little subdued, because there was news in the market that IDBI Mutual Fund is going to be sold. 
That was one of the reasons portfolios were simply managed to maintain healthy AUMs during merger time. 

Later, when we merged with our schemes, our equity team had to do a lot of hard work to sanitize the portfolio according to investment committee and board guidelines. 

From December–January 2024 onwards, we’ve seen very good returns coming. 

Toh pichhle ek–dedh saal mein, we have been able to generate very good returns in our funds, and as a result, with pan-India marketing across all segments digital, distributors, LIC agents, banking channels the AUM has grown significantly. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Sir, aapne merger ke baare mein baat ki thoda mujhe batayein, how has the transition been for you? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Initially, I will say there were a lot of good learnings during this merger process. 
Sabse badi baat thi ki AUM was at a very low level. 

As I said, there was one predominant broker only not a wide segment of national or regional distributors, banking channels, or LIC agents. 

So initially AUM was less, and we had some difficulty in churning the portfolio kyunki jab AUM ek certain level ke upar jaata hai, tabhi healthy churning possible hoti hai aur returns milte hain. 

Jab ye 20 funds aaye, we started marketing aggressively for augmenting AUM. As AUM picked up, our equity team worked day and night to sanitize portfolios, bring in good stocks, and ensure investors whether through SIPs or lumpsum get good returns for their financial goals. 

Slowly and steadily, we built good AUM and delivered good returns. 

Ek aur advantage hua bahut saare equity funds hamare stable mein pehle nahi the. 
Mid Cap, Small Cap, Dividend Yield, Infrastructure aise kai funds nahi the. 
Agar hum ek ek NFO launch karte, toh bahut time lagta aur expenditure bhi zyada hota. 

Toh ek saath humein 20 funds mile  some new, some existing  aur jo hamare paas similar funds the, they merged smoothly. 

Jo naye funds the, we carried forward with LIC Mutual Fund name. 
We’re extremely fortunate and getting good support from investors, distributors, and banking community  and great learnings during this merger.

Vivek Ananth: 

Sir, you have so much experience in LIC now that you’re running LIC MF, what tangible learnings have you applied here? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Very good question, Vivek ji. 

I’ve been with LIC since 1989, appointed as Assistant Administrative Officer (Class I). 

For most of my 33 years, I worked in Life Insurance Marketing very aggressively. 
In the last 4 years, I was in the Investment Department. 

Coming to Mutual Funds gave me a wider perspective. 
Earlier, my focus was only on life insurance through LIC agents, ensuring people get healthy life coverage for themselves and family. 

But after joining mutual funds, my vision broadened  insurance is essential, but mutual fund bhi zaroori hai for wealth creation. 

Both are important. 
Insurance protects the family in case of untimely death for income protection, children’s education, marriage, spouse’s security. 
LIC caters to this excellently and we’re proud that LIC has covered almost 30 crore Indians through LIC policies. 

Now, mutual funds add an additional wealth creation layer. 
Mutual fund has become a very popular and strong wealth engine. 

Yahan pe insurance cover nahi hai, lekin for those who want to ensure wealth creation, mutual fund ek balanced aur robust platform hai through SIP or lumpsum. 

For example, small SIPs of ₹5k–₹10k monthly don’t pinch much, but after 10–20 years, they become huge sums due to compounding and rupee-cost averaging. 

Market kabhi uni-directional nahi hota — ups and downs dono hote hain and SIPs help accumulate more units in down phases, benefiting later when markets rise. 

Main khud pichle 6–7 saal se SIP kar raha hoon, and I’ve enjoyed it. 
It’s a complementary product along with insurance — together they bring wealth and financial stability for families. 

Agar timely savings aur SIP dono ek folio mein combine ho jaayein  say large & mid cap SIPs, or small cap toh same folio mein additional savings ya arrears bhi invest kiye ja sakte hain, giving extra compounding benefits. 

So I’m extremely thankful I’ve been posted to mutual funds  it’s an excellent vehicle for wealth generation, for individuals and families for goals like education, marriage, retirement, or buying a home. 

It brings positivity and confidence to achieve financial goals. 

Vivek Ananth: 

You mentioned IDBI MF merger  that was necessitated because IDBI Bank was taken over by LIC, right? 
Toh kya IDBI Bank ke network se LIC MF ko benefit mila hai, or are you relying more on traditional LIC agents and digital channels? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

We’ve got a lot of benefit and support from IDBI Bank branches  that’s a fact. 

But it’s also true that our parent LIC is dependent upon IDBI Bank for bancassurance business, since LIC doesn’t have its own bank  unlike many other insurers or fund houses promoted by banks. 

So sometimes challenges happen agar LIC policy call hoti hai, toh naturally IDBI Bank will prioritize that over mutual fund schemes. 

But nevertheless, we’re getting extremely good support, and we’ve seen very good growth post-merger (since July 2023). 

Last year, we launched two NFOs Manufacturing Fund in Sept–Oct, and Multi Asset Allocation Fund this Feb–Mar both got excellent response from IDBI Bank branches. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Abhi jo split hai roughly IDBI Bank se kitna business aa raha hai? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

It’s growing. 

Earlier, our banking channel contribution was very low — because we didn’t have major banks. 

Banks prefer their in-house AMCs first; once that space is done, then we get attention. 

Post-merger, our share jumped from 1% to 10% of bancassurance business in our overall AUM growth — that’s a big positive. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Okay. Sir, your ₹1 lakh crore target for FY26  are you expecting IDBI Bank channel to help you, along with your new marketing efforts? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Yes, the ₹1 lakh crore target is extremely ambitious and challenging, we know. 

But when I took over in April 2023, our AUM was ₹16,526 crore. 
Aaj we’re close to ₹41,000 crore that’s 135–140% growth in two years. 

Our entire LIC MF team is extremely positive, and we’re hoping to double from here by March 2026. 

Even if we don’t reach ₹1 lakh crore, we aim to reach close to ₹75–80k crore. 
Our dream target is ₹1 lakh crore, and we’re trying to achieve it through all channels  digital, MFDs, LIC agents, banking, and national distributors. 

Vivek Ananth: 

You mentioned you’ve built a direct investor app can you share more on that, and also about your equity reorientation? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Sure. Dono segments direct investors and distributors dono mein growth dekh rahe hain. 

Initially, before I joined, we were lagging digitally. Other companies had modernized their apps and websites — hum thoda peeche the. 

So in direct mode, mostly corporates invested; retail was low. Our direct share was around 30–35%. 

But I’m happy to say now our direct channel share is 51%. 

Equity split exact nahi bataya ja sakta, but over 86–90% retail contribution is in equity, consistent with industry data. 

In distributor segment, our share is 49%. 

A highlight in the Manufacturing Fund NFO (Sept–Oct 2024), we garnered ₹900 crore, of which 75% came through MFDs and LIC agents. 

In Multi Asset Allocation Fund (Feb–Mar 2025), that share jumped to 89%. 

We’re getting very strong support from advisors, MFDs, national and regional distributors, and LIC agents. 

Because frankly, the number of schemes available in India 1,800+ makes it hard for any investor to choose alone. 

So an advisor’s role is critical, they help curate 4–5 good funds, explain returns, features, and help investors make informed decisions. 

So I strongly believe a mutual fund distributor or advisor is an extremely critical guide for an investor to start his investment journey. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Okay. Sir, what’s the age profile of your retail investors  especially after launching the app? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

I’m extremely proud to say that almost 25% of our business now comes from the young generation millennials and Gen Z. 

This is one of the hallmarks of our performance. 

It’s the result of both our equity focus and our new direct initiatives. 
And of course, LIC being a trusted, versatile brand, young investors get attracted to it. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Thank you, sir. Last question any book or movie that really inspired or changed your thinking, which you’d recommend to our viewers? 

Ravi Kumar Jha: 

Many books I’ve read — but in investment, Howard Marks’ book really impressed me. 

And I love Robin Sharma’s books — like The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. They’re very motivational and filled with learning. 

Among films, Chhalaang really inspired me — how average students are pushed toward excellence through sports. 

Vivek Ananth: 

Alright, thank you sir. Thanks a lot for taking the time. 

[Closing Segment] 

Vivek Ananth (voiceover): 
Toh yeh tha Bazaar & Beyond ka aaj ka episode, jisme humne Ravi Kumar Jha se jaana LIC Mutual Fund ka equity push, the focus on retail investors, and how he’s planning to achieve the aggressive targets set for his team. 

Agar aapko yeh episode pasand aaya, toh video ko like karein aur doston ke saath share karein. 
Aise hi aur conversations ke liye, m.Stock ke YouTube channel ko zarur subscribe karein. 

Milte hain agle episode mein — tab tak ke liye, stay safe and invest wisely. 

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