What the Big-3 Mutual Funds bought and sold in November 2022?

19 Dec 2022 , 11:25 AM

There are 2 other factors of note. Firstly, the NFO collections were robust at Rs7,199 crore in November 2022, but more than half of that came from Fixed Maturity Plans (FMPs). The balance was dominated by sectoral funds and index funds. 

Monthly SIP flows for November 2022 touched record highs of Rs13,306 crore, despite strong global headwinds. Investors are not only being added to SIPs (as evidenced by rising folios), but investors are also staying put through the highs and lows. That is good news. The big question is what the big funds did with the money that came in. We look at portfolio shifts of 3 largest equity fund houses viz. SBI MF, ICICI Prudential MF and HDFC MF. 

How much AUM do the Big 10 AMCs control?

Before looking at what the mutual funds bought and sold in November 2022, here is the ranking of the top AMCs on equity AUM as of November 2022.

Top Fund Houses ranked By equity fund AUM	Equity AUM (Rs crore) As on 31-Nov-2022
SBI Mutual Fund	474,770
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	245,330
HDFC Mutual Fund	220,430
UTI Mutual Fund	170,030
Nippon India Mutual Fund	167,180
Axis Mutual Fund	145,370
Kotak Mutual Fund	141,510
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	116,520
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	104,440
DSP Mutual Fund	68,930

Data Source: AMFI

In November 2022, equity fund AUM of major fund houses surged as NFO flows combined with SIP flows were robust. There was also help from robust stock markets. On equity AUM, ICICI Prudential AMC maintained its gap over HDFC MF, while UTI and Nippon India Fund are moving up rapidly. Bancassurance names accounted for half of the top-10 players. 

These top-10 AMCs account for over 90% of industry-wide equity AUM, and hence their actions are closely tracked by traders and investors. As a proxy, we focus on the buy and sell actions of the 3 biggest AMCs by equity AUM for November 2022 viz. SBI MF, ICICI Pru MF and HDFC MF. Here is how it looks!

What SBI MF bought and sold in November 2022

SBI Mutual Fund is the largest by overall AUM and equity AUM. In fact, the equity AUM of SBI MF at Rs4.75 trillion is more than the combined equity AUM of ICICI Prudential and HDFC MF. The top equity holdings of SBI MF are ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Infosys. Here are the major stocks that SBI MF bought and sold in November 2022.

In November 2022, IPO participation was back at SBI MF. Let us first look at the 2 fresh investments made by SBI Mutual Fund in the month of November; and both were incidentally IPOs. During the month of November 2022, SBI MF invested Rs452.60 crore in Archean Chemical Industries IPO and Rs417.87 crore in the Global Health (Medanta) IPO. These were the only two fresh buys that SBI MF undertook in November, committing substantial funds to these IPOs. Apart from these fresh buys, SBI MF added to its existing positions in several stocks in November 2022. SBI MF added 3.01 lakh shares of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), 30.12 lakh shares of HUDCO Ltd and 0.88 lakh shares of Polycab India Ltd during the month.

Let us now turn to the exits made by SBI MF in November 2022. During the month, SBI MF fully exited three stocks, but two out of these were due to an amalgamation. It fully exited its holdings worth Rs131.93 crore in Shriram City Union Finance, which merged into Shriram Transport Finance Ltd to create Shriram Finance Ltd. It also exited its Rs60.98 crore holding in Mindtree, which merged into L&T Infotech to create LTI Mindtree Ltd. In addition, SBI MF exited its small Rs1.13 crore holdings in Sadbhav Engineering Ltd. There were also stocks where SBI MF reduced existing positions. In November 2022, SBI MF sold 34.39 lakh shares of NCC Ltd, 5.05 lakh shares of Rain Industries and 0.17 lakh shares of Dixon Technologies.

What ICICI Prudential MF bought and sold in November 2022

ICICI Pru AMC is the second largest fund by overall AUM and equity AUM for more than two years now. Its equity AUM at Rs2.45 trillion makes it an influential player in the equity space. The top equity holdings of ICICI Prudential MF are ICICI Bank, Infosys and HDFC Bank. Here is a look at what ICICI Pru MF bought and sold in November 2022.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was also an aggressive buyer in IPOs in November 2022. During the month, ICICI Pru MF made fresh IPO investments in Archean Chemical Industries Rs57.09 crore, Fusion Micro Finance Rs51.95 crore, Global Health (Medanta) Rs45.41 crore, Inox Green Energy Rs35.34 crore, Bikaji Foods International Rs20.55 crore and Kaynes Technology Rs17.30 crore. ICICI Pru MF also bought fresh Rs5.57 crore of Sarda Energy from the secondary market. The fund added to existing positions in several stocks. It added 29.46 lakh shares of PCBL, 91.32 lakh shares of Delhivery and 0.28 lakh shares of RH Magnesita.

Let us turn to stocks that ICICI Pru MF exited totally and where it reduced stake. In November 2022, ICICI Prudential MF fully exited its Rs195.54 crore stake in Mindtree due to its merger with LTI and a small stake in Shriram City Union due to its merger with Shriram Transport Finance. It also fully exited its Rs8 crore position in Craftsman Automation. There were also stocks where ICICI Prudential MF reduced holdings in November 2022. It cut its stake in GIC RE by 12.40 lakh shares, IIFL Wealth by 7.21 lakh shares and Ratnamani Metals and Tubes by 1.64 lakh shares. 

What HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in November 2022

HDFC Mutual Fund may have dropped to third position in equity AUM rankings, but at Rs2.20 trillion, its equity shifts still remain a key influencing factor. As of November 2022, the top equity holdings of HDFC MF were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Infosys and Reliance. 

HDFC MF was extremely active in IPOs. It made fresh IPO investments in DCX Systems Rs73.67 crore, Archean Chemical Industries Rs57.09 crore, Global Health (Medanta) Rs45.41 crore, Five Star Business Finance Rs43.03 crore, Bikaji Foods International Rs20.55 crore, Kaynes Technology Rs17.30 crore and Inox Green Energy Rs9.35 crore. In the secondary market, HDFC MF made fresh purchases of Intellect Design Arena worth Rs15.47 crore, SAIL Rs13.54 crore and NMDC Rs4.49 crore. HDFC MF also used the volatility in select stocks to add more at lower levels. It added 6.84 lakh shares of NALCO, 14.39 lakh shares of IDFC First Bank and 1.30 lakh shares of LTI Mindtree, due to merger.

Let us turn to stock exits. HDFC MF exited its Rs81 crore position in Mindtree and its Rs39.06 crore position in Shriram City Union Finance on account of merger. It also sold Rs0.23 crore worth of holdings in Zydus Lifesciences. In addition, HDFC MF also reduces its positions in ICICI Prudential Life by 20.63 lakh shares, Zomato by 55.56 lakh shares and Alembic Pharma by 12.83 lakh shares.

That is the gist of the MF churn story in November 2022? Funds bought selectively in stocks where correction has been steep but also used the volatility to exit stocks where headwinds are strong or momentum is low. Mutual funds have used the volatility to the hilt to add value to their portfolios.