The country's 44 fund houses together had an average AUM (Asset Under Management) of Rs 7,86,543 crore in the October- December quarter of the current fiscal, up from 7,47,333 crore in the previous three-month period.

This is the highest level since September 2010 (when AMFI started declaring quarterly average numbers) and the third consecutive quarterly gain in mutual fund assets.

Excluding the domestic Fund of Funds, the total average AUM of 44 AMCs stood at Rs 70,638 crore in the third quarter of 2012-13, down from Rs 70,783 crore in the previous quarter.

Most of the fund houses, including the top-ranked HDFC, Reliance and ICICI Prudential saw their AUMs rise during the quarter under review.

However, BNP Paribas, Edelweiss, Goldman Sachs, Pramerica and Tata Mutual Funds witnessed a decline in their AUMs from the levels seen in the July-September quarter.

Of the 44 fund houses, 33 saw their AUMs rise during the period, which market experts largely attributed to revival in stock market sentiments that helped them attract fresh investment and also improve their portfolio values.

HDFC MF retained its top position and had an average AUM of about Rs 1.01 lakh crore, a rise of 3.7 per cent followed by Reliance MF with an average AUM of about Rs 90,600 crore, up by 5 per cent during the quarter.