What Big 10 fund houses bought and sold in January 2024

14 Feb 2024 , 11:05 AM

Another month of MF records in January 2024

The month of January 2024 was once again a month of several records being set and also broken along the way. The total AUM of mutual funds in India touched a life time high of ₹52.74 Trillion, which roughly translates into $635 Billion. That takes the combined AUM of LIC and the domestic mutual funds to about $1.35 Trillion; a good foil for the $755 Billion of assets under custody (AUC) that FPIs have in India. But, there were more surprising numbers on the upside. The total number of mutual fund folios touched 16.96 Crore, up nearly 5 fold over the last 5 years. There are a total of 19 fund categories with AUM of more than ₹100,000 Crore. This list is dominated by the equity funds where 10 out of the 11 equity funds have AUMs in excess of ₹100,000 Crore. Clearly, equity fund AUMs have benefited substantially from the frenetic rally in the markets.

SIP records were not far behind

If the contribution of NFOs to fresh flow accretion has been limited in the last few months, it has been more than made up by the SIP flows. Total SIP flows in the month of January 2024 stood at a record level of ₹18,838 Crore while the total number of SIP outstanding accounts stood at 7.92 Crore. In short, the SIP folios account for 46.7% of all the folios of mutual funds, showing how much the SIPs have dominated fresh folio creation. In terms of SIP AUM, it touched ₹10.27 Trillion as of the close of January 2024, an AUM share of 19.5%. The dichotomy between the SIP share in folios and the SIP share in AUM clearly highlights the extent of retail intensity that these SIPs have brought about in the character of mutual funds in India. And all this means; a whole lot of churn by the mutual funds.

Equity fund AUM is still dominated by Bank sponsored AMCs

The top-10 AMC list continues to be dominated by the bank sponsored AMCs; accounting for 5 out of the top 10 by equity AUM. For banks, the mutual funds are a natural cross-sell, so the outcome is right in front of you. We use these top 10 funds by AUM as a proxy for the mutual fund universe as a whole and understand the portfolio churn of the industry through the lens of these top-10 funds by AUM. This is done at 2 levels. At the first level, we look at the large cap stocks which the specific fund bought, sold or even the stocks where these funds were neutral during the month of January 2024. At the second level, we check out the most preferred stocks of each fund house from an alpha perspective. These alpha stocks are generally mid and small caps; but they could be large caps too, at times. Here is how the 10 biggest AMCs in India churned their equity portfolios. 

SBI Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us first look at the shares that SBI Mutual Fund bought in the month of January 2024, across all market cap classes but predominantly large caps. In terms of MOM percentage change , SBI MF was a buyer only in 2 stocks viz. Reliance and SBI, which saw buying from a number of other funds too. SBI MF was not neutral on any stock in January 2024.

It was a month of position cutting for SBI MF.  It cut positions aggressively in ICICI Bank, Infosys, and Larsen & Toubro. SBI MF was also a seller, to a lesser extent, in HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, TCS and Bajaj Finance. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 in terms of percentage accretion in holdings include additions to holdings in EIH, Sundaram Clayton, Vedanta, IREDA and Jubilant Foodworks. SBI MF also took fresh positions in TIPS Industries and EID Parry.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Which large cap shares did ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund buy in January 2024? ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund turned aggressive buyer in HDFC Bank and Maruti Suzuki Ltd in January 2024. It also added to its holdings in Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. ICICI Prudential MF was neutral on NTPC Ltd in January 2024.

In January 2024, ICICI Pru MF was also a seller in several stocks. It sold a substantial quantity of shares in Bharti Airtel, Infosys, and Reliance Industries. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 included additions to stocks like Rain Industries, BEML, Star Health, Sumitomo Chemicals, and Ingersoll Rand. it added fresh positions in Axiscades Technologies and Pricol.

HDFC Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us first look at the shares that HDFC Mutual Fund bought in January 2024, mainly  in the large cap space. In terms of MOM percentage increase, HDFC Mutual Fund added to its positions aggressively in HDFC Bank and Axis Bank Ltd. It also added smaller portions to its positions in Larsen & Toubro, SBI, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries. HDFC Mutual Fund was not neutral on any of the stocks for the month.

On the sell side, HDFC mutual Fund cut positions aggressively in NTPC Ltd and sold smaller quantities of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bharti Airtel and Infosys Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage increase in holdings and fresh additions included stocks like GMR Airports Infrastructure, Vodafone India Ltd, Tube Investments of India Ltd, Metropolis Healthcare and Page Industries Ltd. In January 2024, HDFC Mutual Fund did not take any significant fresh position in any stock.

Nippon India Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us move on to the stocks Nippon India MF bought in January 2024, across large caps. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Nippon India MF added to positions aggressively in HDFC Bank and State Bank of India. In addition, Nippon India Mutual Fund also added to its positions in Reliance Industries in the month. Nippon Fund stayed neutral on several stocks in January 2024, including ICICI Bank, NTPC Ltd, Coal India Ltd, Axis Bank and ONGC Ltd.

What about the large cap stock exits? During January 2024, Nippon India MF cut its positions in Infosys Ltd and Powergrid Corporation Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage increase in holdings included accretions to stocks like Jindal Saw, CG Power & Industrial Solutions, Aarti Industries, GMR Airports Infrastructure, and Gujarat Gas Ltd. It took fresh positions in Gillette India and Galaxy Surfactants.

UTI Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us now turn to the oldest fund in India and check what are the shares that UTI Mutual Fund bought and sold in January 2024? In terms of MOM percentage increase, UTI MF added to its large cap positions in Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank Ltd. The fund was neutral on 4 stocks including Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Kotak Mahindra Bank and ITC Ltd. 

On the exit side, UTI was an aggressive seller in Larsen & Toubro (L&T), but also cut its positions in Infosys Ltd, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on the percentage enhancement in stake include, One97 Communications (Paytm), M&M Financial Services, Caplin Point Laboratories, Supreme Industries and Gillette India Ltd. 

Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us now look at the shares that Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) Mutual Fund bought in January 2024; predominantly in the large cap space. In terms of MOM percentage accretion, ABSL MF added to its positions substantially Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and to a lesser extent in stocks like HDFC Bank, SBI, Infosys, Reliance Industries, and HCL Technologies. However, ABSL Mutual Fund stayed neutral on 1 stock viz., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (Sun Pharma) for the month of January 2024.

Interestingly, ABSL MF was relatively aggressive on the sell side. The fund cut positions quite aggressively in ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel Ltd, and Axis Bank Ltd in the month of January 2024. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage accretion in holdings included enhancement of stake in Gujarat Gas, Tube Investments of India, Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL), Abbott India, and Avenue Supermarts Ltd (D-Mart).

Axis Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Let us now turn to the shares that Axis Mutual Fund traded in January 2024, across market cap classes. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Axis Mutual Fund added aggressively to its positions in just one stock viz. Reliance Industries Ltd. Axis Mutual Fund was not neutral on any of the stocks in the month of January 2024.

The story was very aggressive on the sell side. Axis Mutual Fund was an aggressive seller in January 2024 across Avenue Supermarts (D-Mart), Info-Edge India Ltd (Naukri), and Bajaj Finance Ltd. In addition, the fund was also a net seller in stocks like Tata Motors, Cholamandalam Finance, HDFC Bank, TCS, ICICI Bank and Torrent Power. Fund action was clearly veering towards the sell side. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on the percentage accretion in holdings were Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), HPCL, Cipla Ltd and Indian Bank. The only stock that it added fresh positions was NHPC Ltd for the month of January 2024.

Kotak Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Here is a quick look at stocks that Kotak Mutual Fund bought in January 2024, across market cap classes. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Kotak Mahindra MF was a very aggressive buyer on HDFC Bank Ltd and moderately aggressive buyer in Maruti Suzuki and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). However, Kotak Mutual Fund was not neutral on any of the stocks in the month of January 2024.

There were 2 stocks in which Kotak Mutual Fund cut positions aggressively viz., ICICI Bank Ltd and Infosys Ltd. In addition, it also pared its holdings in stocks like Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India (SBI) and Ultratech Cements Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage accretion in holdings included sharp additions to TVS Motors, LIC Housing Finance, Oracle Financial Services (OFSS), Aditya Birla Fashions & Retail (ABFRL), and Asian Paints Ltd. Fresh additions were fairly marginal in GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and Tata Communications Ltd.

Mirae Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Mirae has seen one of the fastest growth in equity AUM in last few years. Among the frontline stocks that Mirae Mutual Fund bought aggressively in January 2024 there was just one stock, Kotak Mahindra Bank. In the month of January 2024, Mirae MF also added to its large cap positions in Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI). However, the fund remained neutral on Reliance Industries for the month.

During the month of January 2024, Mirae MF sold aggressively in ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel Ltd. It also sold smaller quantities in NTPC Ltd and Infosys Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage accretion in holdings included enhancement to NHPC Ltd, Oracle Financial Services (OFSS), Indus Towers, AIA Engineering, and Bajaj Finance. Fresh additions were marginal in Arvind Fashions, Brigade Enterprises and Data Patterns.

DSP Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in January 2024

Finally, let us look at what DSP Mutual Fund did in January 2024. The fund increased its holdings substantially in HDFC Bank and to a lesser extent in Coforge Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, and IPCA Laboratories. DSP Mutual Fund opted to remain neutral on Bharat Forge Ltd for the month of January 2024.

In terms of selling, DSP MF was an aggressive seller in Axis Bank Ltd. The fund also sold smaller quantities of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), ICICI Bank, Alkem Laboratories, and Infosys Ltd. The fund’s top stock picks for January 2024 based on percentage increase in holdings were Nippon Life India AMC, Petronet LNG, Bandhan Bank and Vedanta Ltd. Fresh additions were made to stocks like Godrej Industries, IFB Industries and KFIN Technologies.