Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in July 2022

As Indian share markets recovered in July 2022, retail investors stayed on the sidelines and did not make many fresh purchases in the mutual fund category.

For the month of July 2022, inflows into equity mutual funds stayed positive and stood at Rs 89 bn.

However, the strength of inflows was relatively tepid. The amount of Rs 89 bn received in July 2022 was sharply lower by 42% from June's Rs 155 bn.

The subdued inflows could be due to the volatile stock markets, which affected investor sentiment.

Data revealed by the mutual funds association in India (AMFI) showed that total assets under management for the mutual fund industry rose to Rs 37.8 tn as of 31 July 2022, compared to Rs 35.6 tn in June 2022.

Debt funds saw net inflows of Rs 49.3 bn compared to net outflows of Rs 922.5 bn in June 2022.

In the last 5 months, debt funds have seen sharp outflows. This could be due to treasury pressures from corporate funds and fear of rising yields.

Small-cap equity funds saw the highest inflows of Rs 17.8 bn, while the flexicap fund category collected Rs 13.8 bn. Midcap funds saw collections of Rs 12.4 bn, while large-cap funds saw inflows of Rs 10.9 bn.

No wonder smallcap stocks and midcap stocks have raced ahead of the benchmark indices.

Inflows through systematic investment plans (SIP) fell marginally to Rs 121.4 bn in July 2022 compared to Rs 122.8 bn in June.

Meanwhile, SIP accounts went up to 56.1 bn in July compared to 55.5 bn in the previous month. SIPs have been in favor. If anyone asks where to invest in mutual funds, they'll prefer the SIP route.

The monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) contribution stood at almost the same level where it was in the previous month. Despite the volatility, SIP flows in July 2022 was stable.

Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) saw outflows of Rs 4.6 bn as investors booked profits after a fall in gold prices.

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

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in July 2022

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as Life Insurance Corp (LIC), Indus Towers, and Oil India.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds offloaded Indiabulls Housing Finance, NBCC (India), Rain Industries, and Coforge.

Selling was also seen in Solara Active Pharma and Escorts Kubota.

Smallcaps: Ambika Cotton Mills, Butterfly Gandhimathi, and Welspun Enterprises saw maximum selling by MFs from the smallcap space in July 2022.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in July 2022

Largecaps: Coming to buying, Deepak Nitrite, REC, and Berger Paints, among other largecaps, witnessed massive inflows.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, fund managers loaded up shares of GMR Infra, Orient Electric, Bharat Forge, Jamna Auto, and Radico Khaitan.

Smallcaps: Pitti Engineering, Morepen Labs, and IOL Chemicals & Pharma were the top smallcap buys.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in July 2022

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

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	4,146.4
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	2,226.3
HDFC Mutual Fund	1,991.4
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,540.8
UTI Mutual Fund	1,527.2
Axis Mutual Fund	1,403.4
Kotak Mutual Fund	1,308.0
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,108.1
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	951.6
DSP Mutual Fund	656.3

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

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

• SBI Mutual Fund

  India's largest equity fund held Rs 4,146 bn in equities as of July 2022. (June 2022 figure was Rs 3,770).

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

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

  New Buys	Value as on 31 July 2022 (Rs m)
  Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.	34.80

  Complete Sell	Value as on 30 June 2022 (Rs m)
  Escorts Kubota Ltd.	223.30
  NBCC (India) Ltd.	37.50
  Firstsource Solutions Ltd.	28.40
  Whirlpool Of India Ltd.	27.90
  Solara Active Pharma Sciences Ltd.	24.50
  Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.	14.40
  Intellect Design Arena Ltd.	11.90

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Persistent Systems Ltd.	1,21,871
  Max Financial Services Ltd.	2,561
  Rain Industries Ltd.	2,69,500
  Indraprastha Gas Ltd.	-4,57,054
  Indian Terrain Fashions Ltd.	-12,85,396
  MTAR Technologies Ltd.	-1,43,249

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

  ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the second largest equity fund house with Rs 2,226 bn in equities as of July 2022. The same figure in the month of June 2022 was Rs 2,098 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 July 2022.

  Complete Sell	Value as on 30 June 2022 (Rs m)
  Ashoka Buildcon Ltd.	1,216.80

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Vardhman Textiles Ltd.	4,81,957
  Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd.	3,94,474
  Oil India Ltd.	9,06,798
  Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.	-6,54,552
  Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd.	-8,409
  Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.	-75,964

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research
  

  Following last month's trend, the fund did not make any new stock additions during the month of July 2022.

• HDFC Mutual Fund

  Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 1,991 bn in equities as of July 2022 (June 2022 figure was Rs 1,806 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 July 2022.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 July 2022 (Rs m)
  Deepak Nitrite Ltd.	15.40

  Complete Sell	Value as on 30 June 2022 (Rs m)
  Blue Star Ltd.	1,216.80
  Angel One Ltd.	64.80
  Rain Industries Ltd.	15.40
  Astral Ltd.	12.70
  Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.	5.10

  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Zomato Ltd.	99,13,270
  Coforge Ltd.	11,49,071
  Sanofi India Ltd.	41,000
  Dalmia Bharat Ltd.	-50,000
  Rites Ltd.	-53,79,419
  Indus Towers Ltd.	-5,63,839

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

  HDFC Mutual fund increased its stake in Zomato last month by investing in the beaten down stock.

Final words...

You must be aware that the FIIs are coming back to India after selling Indian stocks relentlessly from October 2021 to June 2022. FIIs turned net buyers of nearly Rs 50 bn in July 2022.

In August so far, they have bought equities worth over Rs 84 bn in the cash segment. FIIs coming back should provide a lot of confidence to mutual fund investors.

If the above data is anything to go by, it appears that fund managers are focusing more on the best smallcap stocks and the best midcap stocks as companies from both these categories are available at attractive valuations due to the selloff in the last few months.

Focusing on the fastest growing stocks which grow sales and profits consistently seem to be the ideal picks.

However, one trend has changed. Mutual funds are now investing in fewer companies as their investment basket has grown to the largest size in years.

ICICI Mutual fund did not make any new additions in June 2022 and continued the trend in July 2022 too.

Since April 2022, the mutual fund industry did not roll out a single new scheme due to delay in implementation of the new norms around pooling of investor funds.

However, fund houses have started launching new fund offers from 1 July as they put in place the new system of funds movements. Nine new fund offers (NFOs) raised Rs 14.5 bn in July 2022.

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of August 2022 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 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...