Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in April 2022

Given the added volatility in Indian share markets in the month of April 2022, retail investors cut down their mutual fund investments.

They preferred to be slightly cautious with their investment as the ongoing volatile market trend is leaving no stones unturned. Even fundamentally strong stocks are getting hammered.

Several blue-chip stocks are trading close to their 52-week lows.

In April 2022, net inflows into equity mutual fund schemes declined 44% sequentially to Rs 158.9 bn as against Rs 284.6 bn in March 2022.

While the inflows were significantly lower compared to previous month, retail investors showed trust in these volatile times and held their faith in mutual fund asset class.

The monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) contribution also declined in April 2022 and figures came in at Rs 118.6 bn as against Rs 123.3 bn in the previous month.

The plus point here? The number of SIP accounts stood at an all-time high in April at 53.9 m against the previous high of 52.7 m scaled in March this year.

Inflows of April 2022 pushed the net AUMs for the industry 17% higher to Rs 38.03 tn.

April 2022 was the 14th straight month of inflows.

If we see category wise, the selling pressure in debt segment continued. This is because rising interest rates and rising bond yields drive investors away from duration products of mutual funds.

Short-duration debt funds and banking & PSU debt funds saw net outflows of Rs 44.5 bn and Rs 31 bn, respectively.

Overall, debt funds saw net inflows as compared to net outflows in March 2022.

The talk of the town this time were gold exchange traded funds (ETFs). Gold ETFs saw net inflows of Rs 11 bn compared to Rs 2.1 bn in the previous month. This is the highest net inflow amount in gold ETFs registered after the inflows of Rs 14.8 bn in February 2020.

Investors went shopping for gold as after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, gold prices have been on an uptrend.

Also, uncertainty in equity markets due to the war and other concerns turned out to be the prime factors pushing the yellow metal higher. Although it has become quite volatile in recent days.

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

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in April 2022

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, L&T Infotech, Jubilant Foodworks, Petronet LNG and Vedanta.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds offloaded Escorts, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, and Syngene International.

Smallcaps: Indiabulls Housing Finance, Motherson Sumi Wiring, RBL Bank, and Firstsource Solutions saw maximum selling by MFs from the smallcap space in April 2022.

Indiabulls Housing shares in particular were offloaded by many mutual funds.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in April 2022

Largecaps: Coming to buying, NTPC, Coal India, Indus Towers, and Gail among other largecaps, witnessed massive inflows.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, fund managers loaded up shares of Vodafone Idea, Ruchi Soya, Zee Entertainment, Bandhan Bank, and Canara Bank.

They also bought Escorts and Hindustan Aeronautics.

Smallcaps: Intellect Design, La Opala RG, and Navin Fluorine were the top smallcap buys.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in April 2022

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

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	3,953.81
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	2,140.39
HDFC Mutual Fund	1,888.91
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,507.24
UTI Mutual Fund	1,462.31
Axis Mutual Fund	1,398.83
Kotak Mutual Fund	1,275.05
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,107.71
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	912.68
DSP Mutual Fund	652.82

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

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

• SBI Mutual Fund

  India's largest equity fund held Rs 3,954 bn in equities as of April 2022.

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

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

  New Buys	Value as on 30 April 2022 (Rs m)
  Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Ltd.	1,178.00
  Escorts Ltd.	93.50
  L&T Finance Holdings Ltd.	19.50

  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 March 2022 (Rs m)
  Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.	169.80
  Minda Corporation Ltd.	79.30
  Goodyear India Ltd.	78.10
  Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd.	60.70
  Ipca Laboratories Ltd.	23.00
  Matrimony.Com Ltd.	21.80
  Indiamart Intermesh Ltd.	0.60

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Deepak Nitrite Ltd.	898,864
  Vodafone Idea Ltd.	58,030,000
  SBI Cards And Payment Services Ltd.	3,111,789
  Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.	-1,767,000
  Mahanagar Gas Ltd.	-86,901
  Astral Ltd.	-71,225

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

  ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund stands as the second largest equity fund with Rs 2,140 bn in equities as of April 2022. The same figure in the month of March 2022 was Rs 2,132 bn.

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

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

  New Buys	Value as on 30 April 2022 (Rs m)
  GE T&D India Ltd.	52.20
  Voltamp Transformers Ltd.	2.60
  MTAR Technologies Ltd.	1.10

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  La Opala RG Ltd.	532,766
  Affle (India) Ltd.	104,302
  Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd.	49,337
  Supreme Petrochem Ltd.	-2,026
  BEML Ltd.	-1,069
  Pfizer Ltd.	-14,691

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research
  

  ICICI mutual fund appears to be doing a lot of things differently. In March 2022, it went on a shopping spree and added as many as 22 new companies to its kitty. Though the amount invested in most of them is minimal.

  This time around, it did not completely sell any of its holdings. In March 2022, the fund did not shy away and exited 11 companies in total.

• HDFC Mutual Fund

  Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 1,889 bn in equities as of April 2022.

  The top five equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Reliance Industries. It also has a good exposure to L&T, ITC and NTPC.

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

  New Buys	Value as on 30 April 2022 (Rs m)
  Mirza International Ltd.	277.00

  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 March 2022 (Rs m)
  Adani Wilmar Ltd.	310.10
  Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.	158.50
  Pfizer Ltd.	78.30
  Coromandel International Ltd.	25.00
  Astral Ltd.	5.00

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Page Industries Ltd.	480
  Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd.	140,000
  Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd.	22,070
  NLC India Ltd.	-10,538,162
  Clean Science And Technology Ltd.	-119,609
  Gujarat Gas Ltd.	-99,550

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

Despite the hawkish US Fed stance, rising inflation, crude oil concerns and the Russia-Ukraine war, retail investors' confidence in the India growth story remains intact.

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of May 2022 remains to be seen.

We will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Stay tuned.

Since you're interested in what mutual funds are buying and selling, check out Equitymaster's Powerful 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...