Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in August 2021

The month of August 2021 saw strong inflows into equity mutual funds. Easing lockdowns and gradual opening of activities improved market sentiment.

As Indian share markets trade at record high levels, investors with low appetite have been encouraged to turn towards mutual funds.

Investors infused a net Rs 86.7 bn in equity mutual fund schemes against previous month's Rs 225.8 bn inflows.

This was a result of total inflows of Rs 336.7 bn and outflows of Rs 250 bn.

This pushed the assets under management (AUM) of the mutual fund industry to an all-time high of Rs 36.6 lakh crore from Rs 35.32 lakh crore as of July 2021.

Although the inflows were down 62% sequentially, this marked the sixth consecutive monthly infusion.

Before this, equity scheme had repeatedly witnessed outflows for eight consecutive months between July 2020 to February 2021.

July saw the highest equity inflows because interest rates on fixed deposits were lower than the inflation rate.

In August, new fund offers (NFOs) launched by MF houses contributed to most of the inflows.

Meanwhile, investors continued to increase exposure through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route as SIP flows came in at Rs 99.2 bn.

The AUM from SIPs also rose to an all-time high of Rs 5.26 lakh crore.

New SIP account registration hit a record 2.5 m in the month of August. What's interesting is that this number is nearly 2.5 times the long-term average!

This is the third month in a row when new SIP registrations have come in above the two million mark, which took the total SIP folios to 43.2 m.

One important point to note is that most of this month's flows came from NFOs and SIPs. Five NFOs launched in August garnered total investments worth Rs 227.7 bn, the highest in at least two years.

So, are mutual fund investors turning cautious as markets trade at all-time high?

Let us take a look at which stocks mutual funds traded in the most during this period.

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in August 2021

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as SAIL, Piramal Enterprises, Dabur India, Yes Bank, and Indus Towers in August.

Midcaps: Among midcap stocks, the highest-selling was seen in Vodafone Idea, GMR Infra, Amara Raja Batteries, IRCTC, and Godrej Properties.

Smallcaps: From the smallcap space, mutual funds trimmed positions in Jubilant Ingrevia, Sadbhav Infra, Easy Trip Planners, and GMM Pfaudler in August.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in August 2021

Largecaps: Coming to buying, Bandhan Bank, Marico, DLF, Lupin, and Adani Enterprises witnessed massive inflows.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, fund managers loaded up shares of Bank of India, Canara Bank, Aavas Financiers, and BHEL.

Smallcaps: Indiabulls Housing Finance, Anupam Rasayan, Mahindra CIE, and Indiabulls Real Estate were the top smallcap buys.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in August 2021

Below is the list of top 10 mutual fund houses as per their equity asset under management (AUM) as on August 2021.

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	3,324.2
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	1,961.9
HDFC Mutual Fund	1,753.8
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,372.1
Axis Mutual Fund	1,332.6
UTI Mutual Fund	1,317.0
Kotak Mutual Fund	1,142.0
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,084.7
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	811.9
DSP Mutual Fund	642.6

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

What India's Top Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in August 2021

• SBI Mutual Fund

  India's largest equity fund held Rs 3,324 bn in equities as of August 2021.

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

  Here's what SBI Mutual Fund bought and sold in August 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 August 2021 (Rs m)
  Chemplast Sanmar Ltd.	8,250.10
  Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd.	4,302.90
  Oberoi Realty Ltd.	408.50
  Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd.	389.40
  Rolex Rings Ltd	277.00
  Polycab India Ltd.	131.50
  Syngene International Ltd.	21.80
  Indiamart Intermesh Ltd.	13.50
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 July 2021 (Rs m)
  Allcargo Logistics Ltd.	379.00
  Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.	284.50
  PNC Infratech Ltd.	152.70
  Shanthi Gears Ltd.	2.90
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Voltas Ltd.	49,915
  Minda Industries Ltd.	1,343,189
  Canara Bank	1,782,000
  Yes Bank Ltd.	-30,560,651
  Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.	-203,400
  Bosch Ltd.	-21,575

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

  ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund stands as the second largest equity fund with Rs 1,961 bn in equities as of August 2021. The same figure in the month of July was Rs 1,844 bn.

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

  Here's what the fund bought and sold in August 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 August 2021 (Rs m)
  Rolex Rings Ltd	1,285.70
  Chemplast Sanmar Ltd.	1,277.90
  Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd.	829.40
  Devyani International Ltd.	464.70
  Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd.	389.40
  Windlas Biotech Ltd.	230.80
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 July 2021 (Rs m)
  Clean Science And Technology Ltd.	352.90
  Prince Pipes and Fittings Ltd.	93.20
  Den Networks Ltd.	37.20
  Asahi India Glass Ltd.	12.90
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  NCC Ltd.	2,629,114
  Strides Pharma Science Ltd.	36,450
  Indian Energy Exchange Ltd.	100,002
  VIP Industries Ltd.	-483,763
  GHCL Ltd.	-538,235
  Route Mobile Ltd.	-61,568

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• HDFC Mutual Fund

  Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 1,753 bn in equities as of August 2021.

  The top five equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Infosys, HDFC Bank and L&T.

  Here's what HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in August 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 August 2021 (Rs m)
  Aavas Financiers Ltd.	1,024.10
  Chemplast Sanmar Ltd.	532.50
  CarTrade Tech Ltd.	483.00
  Rolex Rings Ltd	328.10
  Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd.	157.60
  VRL Logistics Ltd.	121.40
  Strides Pharma Science Ltd.	36.40
  Manappuram Finance Ltd.	26.90
  Can Fin Homes Ltd.	5.00
  PVR Ltd.	2.70
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 July 2021 (Rs m)
  Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd	846.20
  MPS Ltd.	57.60
  Indraprastha Gas Ltd.	26.10
  Godrej Properties Ltd.	5.20
  Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.	0.60
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd.	22,750
  IDFC First Bank Ltd.	12,867,895
  The Ramco Cements Ltd.	31,450
  Vodafone Idea Ltd.	-44,170,000
  Indus Towers Ltd.	-268,000
  Havells India Ltd.	-117,000

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

As Indian stock markets have stabilised at higher levels, sentiment has improved and investors have become more confident now.

Backed by ample liquidity and bullish sentiment, asset management companies (AMCs) are launching NFOs.

And just like the IPO fear of missing out (FOMO), investors are opting for NFOs hoping for something similar.

In the month of July, fund managers showed huge appetite for recently listed initial public offerings (IPOs). This trend continued in August too.

As can be seen from the buy list above, mutual funds enthusiastically bought stocks of recently listed Chemplast Sanmar, Nuvoco Vistas, Krsnaa Diagnostics, CarTrade Tech, and Devyani International.

In fact, if you see the buy list of ICICI Mutual fund, it only purchased the recent offerings and nothing else. This was the case in July too.

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

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

Stay tuned.

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.