Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in December 2022

After a brief scare in the month of November 2022, which saw a fall of over 76%, mutual fund inflows were once again on the rise, this time with more fuel.

Inflows into equity mutual funds for December 2022 came in at Rs 73 billion (bn) as against Rs 22.6 bn recorded in November 2022.

This is more than three-fold growth in inflows, which came at a time when benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell 4%.

The inflows also come at a time when the primary market has dried up. There aren't many IPOs coming up at present, but companies are waiting for the right time to launch their offers.

The net assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry stood at Rs 39.9 trillion (tn) as on 31 December 2022, down from Rs 40.4 trillion last month.

Within the equity category, smallcap funds saw the biggest inflows at Rs 22.5 bn, while the largecap fund segment saw outflow of Rs 0.3 bn.

In November 2022, largecap funds did record their worst outflows in 22 months at Rs 10.4 bn.

Debt oriented funds saw net outflows of Rs 219.5 bn in December 2022. Market experts said this was on the cards as debt funds see outflows at the end of a year, as corporates use the funds to pay advance tax for the year.

Note that debt funds witnessed outflows in five out of last year's twelve months. The pace of outflows was magnified in some months in between.

Inflows in the debt fund segment has remained volatile for quite some time now. They could stabilise once the RBI rate hikes stabilise.

Now coming to SIPs...

Inflows through systematic investment plans (SIP) again rose to a record and stood at Rs 135.7 bn. This compared with previous month's inflows of Rs 133.1 bn.

In calendar year 2022, SIP inflows averaged more than Rs 125 bn per month.

Let's take a look at the stocks that mutual funds traded the most during this period...

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in December 2022

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, and Axis Bank.

HCL Tech has seen heavy selling by mutual funds for the past few months. Same for ICICI Bank. Mutual funds have trimmed their holdings in both these bluechips for three consecutive months now.

Last week, HCL Tech trimmed its revenue growth and margin guidance for FY23, despite posting strong numbers for the December 2022 quarter.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds offloaded Narayana Hrudayalaya, Gujarat Gas, Ramco Cements, and Voltas.

Smallcaps: Amara Raja Batteries, Praj Industries, and Eris Lifesciences saw maximum selling by MFs from the smallcap space in December 2022.

EV batter maker Amara Raja Batteries did see increased buying in November 2022 before mutual funds decided to sell some stake.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in December 2022

Largecaps: Coming to buying, HDFC, Reliance Industries, and Maruti Suzuki witnessed massive inflows.

Reports state that these three stocks received inflows worth Rs 60 bn from mutual funds in December 2022.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds bought shares of Ajanta Pharma, Jindal Stainless, Max Financial, and PFC.

Smallcaps: Sapphire Foods, GMM Pfaudler, and KFin Technologies were the top smallcap buys.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in December 2022

Here is the list of top 10 mutual fund houses as per their equity asset under management (AUM) as of December 2022.

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	4,660.1
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	2,417.7
HDFC Mutual Fund	2,171.6
UTI Mutual Fund	1,660.4
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,632.0
Axis Mutual Fund	1,394.8
Kotak Mutual Fund	1,392.8
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,125.5
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	1,029.2
DSP Mutual Fund	675.2

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

What India's Top Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in December 2022

1. SBI Mutual Fund

India's largest equity fund held Rs 4,660 bn in equities as of December 2022. The November 2022 figure was Rs 4,748 bn.

The top equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and HDFC Bank.

Here's what SBI Mutual Fund bought and sold in December 2022.

New Buys	Value as on 31 December 2022 (Rs m)
Sula Vineyards Ltd.	920.80
Elin Electronics Ltd.	825.60
Sagar Cements Ltd.	157.40
BEML Ltd.	4.70
UCO Bank	3.10
Adani Power Ltd.	1.80
Complete Sell	Value as on 30 November 2022 (Rs m)
Allcargo Logistics Ltd.	5.00
NIIT Ltd.	4.00
Saregama India Ltd.	4.50
Shipping Corporation Of India Ltd.	3.50
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Bank Of India	12,750,286
Sundram Fasteners Ltd.	48,685
Bank Of Baroda	34,970,839
Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd.	-149,976
Oil India Ltd.	-571,755
Greenpanel Industries Ltd.	-199,259

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

2. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the second largest equity fund house with Rs 2,418 bn in equities as of December 2022. The same figure in the month of November 2022 was Rs 2,453 bn.

The top three equity holdings of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Infosys.

Here's what the fund bought and sold in December 2022.

New Buys	Value as on 31 December 2022 (Rs m)
Rainbow Children's Medicare Ltd.	1,319.70
Repco Home Finance Ltd.	5.00
BEML Ltd.	2.20
Supreme Petrochem Ltd.	0.20
Eureka Forbes Ltd.	0.10
Lloyds Metals & Energy Ltd.	0.10
Complete Sell	Value as on 30 November 2022 (Rs m)
Dhanuka Agritech Ltd.	0.10
SpiceJet Ltd.	0.10
Strides Pharma Science Ltd.	0.10
Vakrangee Ltd.	0.10
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Sapphire Foods India Ltd.	959,356
Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd.	1,797,929
Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd.	37,853
Amara Raja Batteries Ltd.	-286,394
Saregama India Ltd.	-5,579
Shipping Corporation Of India Ltd.	-12,125

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

3. HDFC Mutual Fund

Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 2,172 bn in equities as of December 2022. The November 2022 figure was Rs 2,204 bn.

The top five equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, and Reliance Industries.

Here's what HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in December 2022.

New Buys	Value as on 31 December 2022 (Rs m)
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.	343.20
Sula Vineyards Ltd.	278.70
Uniparts India Ltd.	272.70
Fortis Healthcare Ltd.	256.90
Landmark Cars Ltd.	229.20
CreditAccess Grameen Ltd.	137.70
Vodafone Idea Ltd.	3.90
Zydus Lifesciences Ltd.	0.80
Complete Sell	Value as on 30 November 2022 (Rs m)
Abbott India Ltd.	9.70
Polycab India Ltd.	4.40
Amara Raja Batteries Ltd.	3.80
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Coromandel International Ltd.	198,108
NMDC Ltd.	207,100
L&T Finance Holdings Ltd.	847,780
Adani Enterprises Ltd.	-557,569
Indian Energy Exchange Ltd.	-2,043,750
Berger Paints India Ltd.	-96,674

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

Final words...

Data available shows that ahead of the results season, Indian mutual funds offloaded or at least reduced exposure from IT stocks.

Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra witnessed the maximum outflows.

Meanwhile, banking stocks saw some major reshuffling with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank changing counters.

As covid worries were once again back, Lupin and IPCA Labs were the top pharma picks of mutual fund managers. Whether these companies will stay tall in case of any Covid scare, only time will tell...

Going into 2023, industry experts say that 2023 will be a much better year for the mutual fund industry as investors look to continue their momentum via SIPs.

It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen in 2023, as it can be affected by a variety of factors. However, it is expected that the mutual fund industry will continue to grow as more investors become aware of the benefits of mutual funds and as the Indian economy continues to develop.

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of January 2023 remains to be seen. We will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Stay tuned.

As you're interested in what mutual funds are buying and selling, check out Equitymaster's Indian Stock Screener.

This tool tracks the stocks recently bought by mutual funds along with the stocks recently sold by them.

Happy investing!

PS: The above piece relies on data from PersonalFN. PersonalFN is a Mumbai based personal finance firm offering Financial Planning and Mutual Fund Research services.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...