Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC is on a slippery slope

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Editor's note: Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has an active exposure of about Rs 1,700 crore to the Adani group’s debt, the highest among mutual fund houses in India. This, in the wake of Hindenburg Research’s scathing report on the group, should have been cause for concern. While it is, it isn’t its biggest worry.  Days after the Hindenburg report, the asset management company announced a 11% year-on-year dip in its net profits for the quarter ended December 2022. This was primarily on the back of a 36% dip in other income, which is primarily the gains and losses on its own investments.  In fact, questionable investment decisions and poor performance underline the Aditya Birla Group’s mutual funds business. In 2022, it slipped two slots in the league table of AMCs, going from fourth to sixth, as it saw the highest decline of assets under management among its peers. Its AUM declined by 5.7% during the year. That’s a real setback because even when returns were below par in previous years, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC always managed to grow its AUM, …