Mumbai : Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has shown confidence in domestic equities in the last quarter of FY22 (Q4FY22) ahead of the mega public market debut that opens today.
According to data from primeinfobase.com, the state-run insurer’s ownership by value in 279 NSE-listed companies, where its stake is more than 1%, rose to 3.83% in the March quarter, from 3.67% in December. It saw a slight decline in ownership in Q3. In terms of value, it reached a new high of 9.89 trillion in the quarter, clocking a sequential growth of 3.75%.
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LIC’s stake increased in 83 companies quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). The shares of these companies saw an average fall of 5.92 per cent during the same period. LIC, on the other hand, trimmed holdings in 81 NSE-listed firms, whose average share price rose nearly 4%, the analysis showed.
Stock markets were volatile in the last quarter due to weak global cues, inflation and increased uncertainty due to geopolitical tensions. “Historically, LIC has been a contrast investor. The January-March quarter saw a period of deep recovery. According to that example, they could bet. Moreover, their share (as per market value) could have increased as foreign investors reduced their stake,” said Pranav Haldia, managing director, Prime Database Group.
The top holdings of the state-run insurer include 49.2% stake in IDBI Bank, 45.2 per cent stake in LIC Housing Finance and 15.8 per cent stake in ITC as of March. Companies in which it has increased stake significantly in the last two quarters include Bharat Petroleum, Mahanagar Gas and Tata Consumer Products. The losers included Hindustan Aeronautics and Hindustan Copper.
The increase in LIC’s stake raised the total stake of domestic insurance companies in NSE-listed companies to 4.99% in Q4FY22 as compared to 4.79% in the previous quarter. LIC commands the lion’s share of investments in equities by insurance companies (77%). A total of 21 insurance companies (holding more than 1% stake) are invested in NSE listed companies.
Further, the total share of domestic institutional investors (DIIs), which includes domestic mutual funds, insurance companies, banks, financial institutions and pension funds, rose to 13.7% from 13.21% in Q3 FY2012. Moreover, in value terms, the holding of DII also reached an all-time high of 35.35 trillion, registering a growth of 3.05% qoq.