HDFC AMC Share Price Rallies As SEBI Lowers Mutual Fund Expense Charges

Shares of HDFC Asset Management Co. rallied in early trade on Thursday after the Securities and Exchange Board of India announced a cut in mutual fund expense ratio charges.

HDFC AMC's share price was up nearly 5%, in line with gains witnessed across the asset management sector.

SEBI’s decision to lower mutual fund expense ratios marks a significant regulatory shift aimed at increasing retail investor participation and improving compliance across the industry.

Under the revised framework, mutual fund expense ratio limits—now referred to as the Base Expense Ratio (BER)—will exclude all statutory levies. These include GST, stamp duty, SEBI fees, exchange charges and other statutory costs, according to the regulator’s official statement.

SEBI clarified that the total expense ratio will no longer be calculated as a combination of the BER along with brokerage, regulatory and statutory levies.

The regulator has reduced expense ratio limits across multiple categories, including index funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fund of funds (FoFs), equity-oriented schemes investing more than 65% of assets under management, other FoFs, closed-ended schemes and non-equity-oriented schemes.

The scrip rose as much as 4.97% to Rs 2,675.60 apiece, the highest level since Nov. 21. It pared gains to trade 4.26% higher at Rs 2,658.20 apiece, as of 10:03 a.m. This compares to a 0.30% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 26.60% on a year-to-date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 1.34 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 54.78.

Out of 28 analysts tracking the company, 19 maintain a 'buy' rating, and nine recommend a 'hold,' according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 11.3%.