What the Big-3 funds bought and sold in December 2021

18 Jan 2022 , 08:30 AM

For the month of December 2021, equity funds saw inflows of Rs25,977cr while the monthly SIPs touched a record level of Rs11,305cr. While these funds were spread across large cap, mid-cap and small cap stocks, what is also illustrative is the colour of the buying and selling that some of the biggest funds have done in the month. It is obviously the big names with big AUMs that drive equity trends in the market. Before that, let us first look at the top-10 funds in India on assets under management (AUM).

How the AMCs with top equity AUM stack up

While overall AUM is a good measure, it does not capture the nuances of retail participation and equity appetite. One of the ways is to compare the top AMCs based on equity AUM.

Data Source: AMFI

Some of the AMCs that recently ramped up equity AUM substantially are Nippon MF, UTI MF and Mirae MF. These top 10 mutual funds account for over 90% of equity AUM; and this includes the equity component of hybrid funds and the underlying portfolio of passive funds. What we focus on is the buy and sell actions of the top 3 funds viz. SBI MF, ICICI Pru MF and HDFC MF for the month of December 2021.

What SBI MF bought and sold in Dec-21

SBI Mutual Fund is not just the largest AMC based on overall AUM but also on equity AUM by a substantial margin. SBI MF’s equity AUM is larger than the overall AUM of most of the other funds. In fact, the equity AUM of SBI MF at Rs3.702 trillion is over 80% higher than the next on the AUM rank, ICICI Prudential MF. The top equity holdings of SBI MF are HDFC Bank, Reliance, ICICI Bank and Infosys. Here is what SBI MF bought and sold in Dec-21.

Among the top 5 fresh buys of SBI MF in Dec-21, 4 were IPOs and the sole exception was IPCA Laboratories. SBI Mutual Fund invested Rs1,085cr in Medplus Health Services, Rs197cr in CMS Info Systems, Rs69cr in Tega Industries Rs53cr in IPCA Laboratories and Rs41cr in Anand Rathi Wealth. In addition, SBI MF also bought fresh stakes in CE Infosystems (MapmyIndia), IDFC and Whirlpool of India.

During the month of Dec-21, SBI MF enhanced exposure to certain stocks in its portfolio. The AMC added 16.76 lakh shares of Go Fashions, 4.62 lakh shares of BHEL and a smaller quantity of Indiamart Intermesh during Dec-21.

In Dec-21, there were several stocks that SBI MF exited completely. For example it sold its entire holdings worth Rs604cr in National Highways Infrastructure Trust, Rs6.3cr worth of Metropolis Healthcare and Rs1.20cr holdings in Aarti Industries. In addition, SBI MF also reduced its stake by 41.04 lakh shares in SBI Cards, 19 lakh shares of India Pesticides and 2.05 lakh shares of Apollo Tyres.

What ICICI Prudential MF bought and sold in Dec-21

In the recent past, ICICI Pru AMC has clearly overtaken HDFC MF to emerge second in the AUM sweepstakes. In fact, the equity AUM of ICICI Pru MF at Rs2.053 trillion makes this fund house a significant and influential player in the equity space. Among the top equity holdings of ICICI Pru MF are ICICI Bank, Infosys and Bharti Airtel. Let us check out what ICICI Pru MF bought and sold in Dec-21.

Among the top 5 fresh buys of ICICI Pru MF in Dec-21 all were IPOs. ICICI Pru MF invested Rs65.6cr in Rategain Travel Technologies, Rs55.14cr in CMS Info Solutions, Rs34.5cr in Anand Rathi Wealth, Rs26cr in CE Info Systems and Rs24.7cr in Metro Brands. Among other fresh buys; ICICI Pru MF also bought Tega Industries, Mold Tek Packaging and Data Patterns.

During the month of December 2021, ICICI Pru MF also added to its positions in select stocks. The fund added 7.04 lakh shares of IIFL Wealth Management, 1.25 lakh shares of Chambal Fertilizers and a small quantity addition in Page Industries.

Regarding exits, ICICI Pru MF made a total exit from a handful of stocks like Dish TV, Future Consumers, Gufic Biosciences, Maharashtra Seamless, Navneet Education and Raymond Ltd. ICICI Pru MF also reduced holdings in Indiabulls Housing by 28.04 lakh shares and cut smaller quantities in Navin Fluorine and Grindwell Norton in Dec-21.

What HDFC MF bought and sold in Dec-21

HDFC Mutual Fund may have ceded the top 2 AUM positions to SBI MF and ICICI Pru MF after a long leadership, but its star managers still remain an influential voice. The equity AUM of HDFC MF at Rs1.84 trillion makes the fund a dominant and influential player. Among the top equity holdings of HDFC MF are ICICI Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, SBI and HDFC Bank. Here is what HDFC MF bought and sold in Dec-21.

Among the top 5 fresh buys of HDFC MF in Dec-21 month, 3 were IPOs. HDFC Mutual Fund invested Rs66.6cr in Tega Industries, Rs66.5cr in Gateway Distriparks, Rs47.4cr in Metro Brands, Rs44.6cr in Navin Fluorine, Rs31.7cr in CE Info Systems and Rs31.3cr in Medplus Health Services. The fund also made fresh purchases into Kajaria, Torrent Power, Graphite, Nalco, Data Patterns, Rallis, Avanti Feeds and SRF Ltd.
During the month of December 2021, HDFC MF also added to its positions in select stocks. The fund added 14.32 lakh shares of Bandhan Bank, 2.00 lakh shares of Strides Pharma and a small quantity of Page Industries.

Regarding exits, ICICI Pru MF made a total exit from 5 stocks; selling shares worth Rs19.6cr in Sterlite Technologies, Rs7.3cr in Ramco Cements, Rs5.1cr in Coromandel International, Rs4.8cr in Vodafone Idea and a smaller quantity in Birlasoft. In addition, HDFC MF also pared its stakes in a handful of stocks. It reduced holdings in IDFC Bank by 74.53 lakh shares, Indiabulls Finance by 8.96 lakh shares and PVR by 1.95 lakh shares.

While the top funds preferred to diversify their holdings by adding on to IPOs, there was significant churn across existing portfolios amidst the market volatility.