Fund managers of top 20 fund houses have increased their allocation to defensive stocks in May. A report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services shows that fund managers increased their allocation to consumer, telecom, automobiles, healthcare, cement, technology, metals and utilities stocks in May.
At the end of May, allocation to defensive sectors increased to 35.5%, the highest in 2 years. Until February, these top 20 fund houses had 29% exposure to defensive sectors.
Drilling down further, the report shows that consumer and telecom are among the most sought after defensive sectors. Weight of consumer stocks increased to 9.8% in May from 8.8% in April. And holding of telecom stocks rose to 3.9% in May from 3.1% in April. In fact, top fund managers have found telecoms stocks constantly attractive, with its weight rising for the 7th consecutive month and touching an all-time high in May.
Meanwhile, fund managers have reduced their holding in private banks considerably. At the end of May, these fund houses’ holding in private banks reduced to a 20-month low of 16.7%. In February, private bank’s weight in these top 20 MFs stood at 20.3%; thereafter, it reduced to 18.1% in March and 18% in April.
Some of the other categories in which fund managers reduced their holdings include NBFCs, PSU banks, oil & gas and retail stocks.
|
Sector |
Weight as on May (%) |
MOM change in percentage points |
|
Private banks |
16.7 |
-1.3 |
|
Consumer |
9.8 |
1 |
|
Technology |
8.9 |
0.2 |
|
Oil & gas |
8.8 |
-0.3 |
|
Healthcare |
8.3 |
0.3 |
|
NBFC |
7.6 |
-0.8 |
|
Auto |
6.1 |
0.3 |
|
Capital goods |
6 |
0 |
|
Utilities |
4.6 |
0.1 |
|
Telecom |
3.9 |
0.8 |
|
Cement |
3.3 |
0.3 |
|
Chemicals |
3.1 |
0 |
|
PSU Banks |
2.2 |
-0.5 |
|
Metals |
2 |
0.1 |
|
Retail |
1.7 |
-0.1 |
|
Textiles |
0.8 |
0 |
|
Real estate |
0.4 |
0 |
|
Infrastructure |
0.4 |
0 |
|
Media |
0.4 |
0 |
