Top funds HDFC, ICICI Pru, Reliance MF, Birla Sun Life and UTI add Banks, select pharma stocks in April

India’s top-five asset management companies HDFC, ICICI Pru, Reliance MF, Birla Sun Life and UTI, which together hold around 55% market share of the industry, bought large and midcap stocks in the month of April when the markets dropped about 10% from their highs, and FIIs offloaded shares in Indian markets on concerns over corporate earnings slowdown and the retrospective tax issue.

Most of the fund houses bought banking stocks such as ICICI, Axis and Kotak Mahindra as valuations turned attractive after the correction. The fund houses also bought select pharma companies like Sun Pharma and Lupin, and automobile shares of the likes of Tata Motors. Midcap companies like Hindustan Construction Company, Inox Wind and Dish TV also attracted fund managers’ attention. Many of these stocks are trading at a discount from their consensus price targets after correcting during the FII-led selloff in April.