What the big 10 fund houses bought and sold in April 2023?

16 May 2023 , 09:40 AM

Here, we look at the top 10 AMCs by equity AUM (dominated by bancassurance plays) and evaluate their portfolio shifts at 2 levels. Firstly, we look at the large cap stocks which the fund bought, sold or was neutral on. These 10 fund houses, because of their size, give the best reflection of stock preferences of mutual funds. At the second level, we also check the most preferred stocks of each fund house from an alpha perspective; could be large stocks or smaller stocks.

SBI Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us first look at the shares SBI Mutual Fund bought in the month of April 2023, across all market cap classes but predominantly large caps. In terms of MOM percentage increase, SBI MF added to its positions in HDFC Ltd, Infosys Ltd, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharti Airtel in April 2023. That is a rather steady approach for the largest equity fund house and shows sustained buying.

SBI Mutual Fund was neutral on stocks like State Bank of India and Larsen & Toubro. However, SBI MF cut stakes in one large cap stocks i.e., ITC Ltd after a very sharp rally. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 in terms of percentage accretion in holdings include Great Eastern Shipping, Gland Pharma, Nykaa, BHEL Ltd and Crompton Greaves Consumer.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us look at the large cap shares that ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought in April 2023. In terms of MOM percentage increase, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund added to its positions substantially in Infosys Ltd but also added to stocks like Reliance Industries, NTPC Ltd, Sun Pharma Ltd and Maruti Suzuki. This is the second month of aggression in Infosys Ltd. 

ICICI Pru MF remained neutral on ICICI Bank holdings in April 2023. There were several stocks in which ICICI Prudential MF cut positions. They cut positions very aggressively in HDFC Bank as well as stocks like Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharti Airtel. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage increase in holdings were Paradeep Phosphates, Sagar Cements, RHI Magnesita, Route Mobile and Affle India.

HDFC Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us start with the shares that HDFC Mutual Fund bought in April 2023, mainly  in the large cap space. In terms of MOM percentage increase, HDFC Mutual Fund added to its positions in large cap stocks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Infosys Ltd and Axis Bank.

HDFC Mutual Fund stayed neutral on Reliance Industries, ITC Ltd and Bharti Airtel in April 2023. However, HDFC Mutual Fund sharply cut positions in stocks like HDFC Ltd, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage increase in holdings included RHI Magnesita, Shoppers Stop, LIC Housing, SRF Ltd and Britannia Industries.

Nippon India Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us now turn to the stocks Nippon India MF bought in April 2023, across large caps. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Nippon India MF added to positions in Reliance Industries and Infosys Ltd. Nippon Fund has regularly been on the profit booking side. The fund was neutral on stocks like HDFC Bank, NTPC Ltd, ONGC Ltd and Coal India.

During April 2023, Nippon India MF cut its positions quite aggressively across stocks like Axis Bank, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Power Grid Corp. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage increase in holdings included Avalon Technologies, PNB Housing, RHI Magnesita, Somany Ceramics and Endurance Technologies.

UTI Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

What are the shares that UTI Mutual Fund bought and sold in April 2023? In terms of MOM percentage increase, UTI MF added to its large cap positions in Reliance Industries, Infosys Ltd, Axis Bank and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). UTI Bank was neutral in April 2023 on ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, ITC Ltd and Bharti Airtel.

The fund cut its positions in Kotak Mahindra Bank during April 2023. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for the month of April 2023 based on the percentage increase in holdings included Biocon Ltd, NMDC Ltd, Nippon Life AMC, Zydus Life Sciences and Persistence Systems.

Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us start with the shares that Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) Mutual Fund bought in April 2023; predominantly in the large cap space. In terms of MOM percentage accretion, ABSL MF added to its positions in Infosys Ltd, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma. Overall a month well spent buying large caps.

ABSL Mutual Fund stayed neutral on Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro. However, the fund cut positions in Axis Bank, HDFC Ltd, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank Ltd in April 2023. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage accretion in holdings included City Union Bank, RHI Magnesita, Poonawala Fincorp, M&M Financial and Tata Motors.

Axis Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Let us now turn to the shares that Axis Mutual Fund traded in April 2023, across market cap classes. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Axis Mutual Fund did not substantially add a single large cap share to its portfolio in April 2023. However, Axis Bank chose to be neutral on the stock of HDFC Bank Ltd.

The real story was on the sell side. Axis Mutual Fund was seller in April 2023 across most counters. During the month, Axis MF sold HDFC Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Pidilite Industries, Avenue Supermarts, ICICI Bank, TCS, Cholamandalam Investments and Info Edge (Naukri). The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on the percentage accretion in holdings were Federal Bank, HPCL, Balrampur Chini, Tata Motors and RHI Magnesita.

Kotak Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Here is a quick look at stocks that Kotak Mutual Fund bought in April 2023, across market cap classes. In terms of MOM percentage increase, Kotak Mahindra MF added substantial chunk of HDFC Bank as well as Maruti Suzuki, Infosys Ltd and Ultratech Cements. However, Kotak Mutual Fund opted to remain neutral on ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro.

There were a several stocks in which Kotak Mutual Fund cut positions including State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and SRF Ltd. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage accretion in holdings included Coal India, Adani Enterprises, NALCO, Zomato Ltd and ONGC Ltd.

Mirae Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

Among the frontline stocks that Mirae Mutual Fund bought in April 2023 were Infosys Ltd and Reliance Industries. However, the fund chose to remain neutral on HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma. 

During the month of April 2023, Mirae MF also sold ICICI Bank, HDFC Ltd and Larsen & Toubro. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage accretion in holdings included Nykaa, Biocon, Crompton Greaves Consumer, NMDC and SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd.

DSP Mutual Fund: equity portfolio churn in April 2023

DSP Mutual Fund bought a large chunk of stocks like Atul Ltd, Alkem Laboratories, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and IPCA Laboratories. However, DSP Mutual Fund remained neutral on State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance in April 2023.

In terms of selling, DSP MF was a heavy seller in Supreme Industries; but also sold Infosys ltd during April 2023. The fund’s top 5 stock picks for April 2023 based on percentage increase in holdings were Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Cipla, JSW Steel, Samvardhana Motherson and Engineers India Ltd.