PPFAS Portfolio Churn: Fund House Laps Up Large-Cap Banks, Sells Two RIL Group Holdings in March

PPFAS Mutual Fund's Trading Activity Reveals Shift in Market Sentiment

PPFAS Mutual Fund, known for its consistent long-term returns and unique strategy, took advantage of the stock market crash in March by buying up large private lenders. At the same time, the fund house sold off Reliance group stocks, which were among its top holdings in previous months.

The flagship PPFAS Flexi-cap scheme, the largest equity mutual fund in terms of assets under management (AUM), saw its cash holdings decline to 22% in March, down from 23% the previous month. However, this still remains the highest cash holding among its peers.

According to data from Nuvama Institutional Equities, HDFC Bank remained the biggest stock bet for PPFAS Mutual Fund in March. The fund house purchased HDFC Bank shares worth ₹1,866 crore, despite a massive 17.18% decline in the stock's value last month. HDFC Bank's stock had declined due to concerns around the company's corporate governance practices following the resignation of chairman Atanu Chakraborty on "ethical" concerns. However, reassurances from the management and RBI have helped shore confidence in the stock, which remains 9% higher in April so far.

Read also: WhiteOak Capital AMC Abolishes Exit Loads Across 16 Schemes

India's second-largest private lender, ICICI Bank, was also on PPFAS' buy list. The fund house purchased 46,66,000 shares of the bank worth ₹563 crore. Additionally, it added 243,53,000 shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank amounting to ₹861 crore last month. Other notable buys include Coal India and Infosys, with stakes worth ₹605 crore and ₹788 crore, respectively.

On the other hand, Reliance group stocks — Reliance Industries and Jio Financial Services — were among the top five stocks offloaded by PPFAS. The fund house sold RIL shares worth ₹595 crore and Jio Financial shares amounting to ₹135 crore. Eternal, formerly known as Zomato, saw the second-highest sales in value terms at ₹189 crore. Bajaj Finance and Balkrishna Industries also saw stake sales worth ₹169 crore and ₹137 crore, respectively.