Having become the biggest asset management company in the country in the January-March quarter, SBI AMC was seen treading carefully and not taking risks as it trimmed shareholdings in the banking sector in March. According to data collected by Emkay Global’s mutual fund tracker, 5 of the top 6 stocks sold by SBI AMC, in terms of market value, were all banks. The banking sector saw the fear of NPAs spiking due to coronavirus, but the Yes Bank saga too hit the banking sector hard in March. The month of March was disastrous for S&P BSE Bankex, which fell 34% while the Nifty Bank index tanked 38%.
SBI AMC sold shares of India’s biggest private sector lender HDFC Bank, worth Rs 1,232 crore. AXIS Banks shares worth Rs 1,164 crore were also sold by SBI AMC along with Rs 1,008 crore worth of shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Among other banks that SBI AMC sold in the month of March, were ICICI Bank and State Bank of India. While Rs 804 crore worth of ICICI Bank shares were sold, Rs 769 crore was the value of shares sold of State Bank of India. Interestingly, SBI AMCs top 10 holdings in terms of market value for the month of March, contained all these bank stocks. The top three stocks held by the AMC are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.
Among the top additions in terms of market value by SBI AMC were, Adani Ports and & Special Economic Zone, ITC and RBL Bank. A total of Rs 292 crore worth shares of Adani Ports & Special economic zones were bought in March, while ITC shares worth Rs 264 crore were bought. RBL Bank shares were also bought by SBI AMC in March, worth Rs 147 crore. Other shares bought in March include Radhakishan Damani’s Avenue Supermarts, GAIL, Bharat Electronics, and Cipla. Navin Fluorine was a new addition to the holdings of SBI AMC, buying 7.9 lakh shares worth Rs 96.5 crore. Interestingly SBI Cards and Payment Services did not feature in the list.
In the month of March, the most sold stocks by large-cap funds in terms of market value change were also bank stocks. The most sold scrip was ICICI Bank, followed by HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India. Even multi-cap funds were seen selling the same bank stocks in the month of March.