SBI Funds Management Ltd, the investment manager to SBI Mutual Fund, recently got approval from capital markets regulator SEBI to launch its initial public offering (IPO). India's largest mutual fund player likely to launch its primary offering in July, raising nearly Rs 13,500 crore from investors.

SBI Funds Management is joint venture between State Bank of India (SBI) and Amundi. It is India’s largest asset manager with mutual fund quarterly average assets under management of Rs 12.48 lakh crore as of December 2025, Antique Stock Broking said in a report. It said this gives SBI Funds Management a 15.4 per cent market share, ahead of ICICI AMC at 13.3 per cent and HDFC AMC at 11.4 per cent.

According to Antique Stock Broking, SBI Funds Management’s asset mix is more diversified than larger peers, with active equity accounting for about 46 per cent of mutual fund QAAUM, against 56 per cent for ICICI AMC and about 66 per cent for HDFC AMC.

It also has a market-leading passive book, with about 32 per cent of AUM and an industry market share of 29.6 per cent. The report said the franchise is supported by SBI’s 23,125 branches, more than 96 million YONO users and Amundi’s global platform, while equity-retail MAAUM grew 36.5 per cent between March 2023 and December 2025.

Unlisted shares of SBI Mutual Funds are trading at Rs 850-870 apiece in the pre-IPO market, commanding a market capitalization of Rs 1.75-1.80 lakh crore. The stock has jumped nearly 15 per cent in the last one month. However, sources suggest that the IPO price band of the issue will be around 20 per cent discount to its current unlisted share price.
 

Retail and SIP franchise
Antique Stock Broking said SBI Funds Management’s retail and SIP franchise remains among the largest and stickiest in the industry. Monthly SIP transactions stood at 1.67 crore and unique investors at 1.61 crore, double the FY23 level. Of 1.58 crore live SIPs, 1.54 crore had run for 37 months or more.

Monthly SIP flows rose from Rs 1,940 crore in FY23 to Rs 3,960 crore by December 2025, compared with Rs 5,000 crore for ICICI AMC and Rs 4,700 crore for HDFC AMC. It also led peers in equity B-30 MAAUM with a 15.9 per cent share. Total QAAUM stood at Rs 29.04 lakh crore as of December 2025, including an institutional PMS and advisory book of Rs 16.47 lakh crore.
 

Institutional mix and performance
The brokerage said individual investors accounted for about 48 per cent of mutual fund MAAUM, lower than equity-led peers because of SBI Funds Management’s large institutional, EPFO and ETF book. It added that the company is India’s largest PMS provider with a 39 per cent share and the largest SIF platform with a 61 per cent share.
 

Active equity and efficiency
Antique said active equity scheme performance remained moderate versus larger peers. Based on three-year return data till March 2026, less than 56 per cent of SBI Funds Management’s equity AUM was in the first two quartiles, against more than 87 per cent for HDFC AMC, more than 82 per cent for ICICI AMC and more than 90 per cent for NAM.

The report said this may be affecting fund inflows, with incremental flow share likely below its 15.4 per cent book share in recent periods. At the same time, nearly a third of mutual fund QAAUM is in low-fee ETFs and index funds, which lowers blended yields, though scale keeps costs low. Operating expenses were 0.08 per cent of QAAUM in FY25, and the cost-to-income ratio improved from 20.6 per cent in FY25 to 18.9 per cent in 9MFY26.
 

Financial profile
Antique said revenue rose from Rs 2,161.6 crore in FY23 to Rs 3,597.8 crore in FY25 and Rs 3,250.6 crore in 9MFY26, implying a 16 per cent CAGR over FY23 to 9MFY26. Operating profit and profit after tax grew at 20.1 per cent and 24.2 per cent, respectively, over the same period. 

It said that SBI MF is debt-free, had a FY25 net worth of Rs 830 crore, return on equity of 33.8 per cent and a dividend payout ratio of about 44 per cent, up from about 13 per cent in FY23.

Antique Stock Broking said SBI Funds Management’s scale, diversified AUM mix, passive leadership, retail reach and institutional business support stability, while sustained improvement in active equity performance remains a key factor for future flow share and medium-term earnings growth.