LIC Holdings reached record highs in the fourth quarter

Even as stock markets prepare to launch LIC shares next week, the value of Bima Behemoth’s holdings in BSE 200 companies reached a record high of $ 127 billion in March 2022, compared to 12 124 billion at the end of December 2021. At Kotak Institutional Equities. As of March 2022, the combined holding of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) was $ 167 billion, suggesting that আর্থ 40 billion worth of shares be held by financial institutions other than the Life Insurance Corporation of India.

As of March 2022, LIC holds 4.5% of the BSE-200 universe, with 22.4% held by FPIs and 8% by mutual funds, with retail investors occupying 8.2% of the index. LIC’s portfolio contains only stocks with a holding of over 1%.

Given the volatile nature of the equity market over the past few months, the rise in LIC’s investment value is quite interesting. The Sensex returned an average of 0.54% in the March quarter after falling 1.5% in the previous quarter. Moreover, the index is down 9.4% so far in 2022 as against 22% profit last year.

In the March quarter, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded $ 14 billion worth of equity in the secondary market. Although local investors, including mutual funds and insurance players, raised shares of equal value, the BSE-200 saw 133 of the companies lose their stock for the quarter. DII Bank, with its increasing stake in diversified financial and IT services stocks, increased its total holdings from 13.4% in the December quarter to 14% in the March quarter.

On the other hand, FPI holdings (including ADR and GDR) on the BSE-200 index fell to 22.4% in the March quarter from 23% in the December quarter.

In LIC 4 Q, L&T Technology Services has increased its holdings in BPCL and Mahanagar Gas while its shares in Hindustan Aeronautics, Atul and Godrej Industries have declined. In the first nine months of FY22, the life insurance giant booked a profit of Rs 42,862 crore from investment sales, showing its revised draft papers for the IPO. While BFIs bought more shares of Tata Steel, PVR and Restaurant Brand Asia in the quarter, FPIs increased their stake in Restaurant Brand Asia, Mindspace REIT and Lemon Tree Hotel in the quarter, KIE noted in its report.

Indian equity markets have seen large inflows from local investors over the past two years, especially after the Kovid-19 outbreak. Large investments by domestic institutional investors only reflect strong flows into domestic mutual funds and an increase in SIP flows.