ICICI Securities' dud IPO tests investing skills of many funds

You may have come across reports where SEBI apparently directed ICICI Prudential AMC to pay Rs 240 crore with 15% per annum interest for violating rules during the last day bidding for IPO of group firm ICICI Securities. The money has to be returned to ICICI Pru's five schemes from which the money was allegedly taken for the shares. Truth be told, ICICI Pru's schemes were not the only ones that invested in ICICI Securities shares, which have tanked over 40% in value (as of July 17) ever since its IPO was launched at Rs 520 per share. In total, there were 45 schemes, including the five from ICICI Pru, that had acquired I-Sec shares in March 2018. The other 40 schemes belong to fund houses like Kotak, HDFC, DSP, IDFC, UTI, L&T, Sundaram, Axis, Reliance, Aditya Birla and SBI. With a terrible start as a listed entity, ICICI Securities' shares surely will test the investing skills of funds. Mutual fund schemes, all put together, snapped up 306.73 lakh shares in ICICI Securities in March 2018. You can use our Who Owns What tool to find out the current standings. Not a small bet ICICI Securities is a leading technology-based securities firm that offers a wide range of financial services including brokerage, financial product distribution and investment banking and focuses on both retail and institutional clients. In fact, it is the sixth biggest mutual fund distributor in India with over Rs 300 crore in MF commission. While there were some concerns of its IPO being expensive, the issue managed to get 78% subscription as on last day and was ultimately forced to cut the size of its initial public offering. Nevertheless, the IPO was completed. It has now come to the fore that ICICI Securities IPO sailed through with help from sister concern, ICICI Prudential MF, which did an 'LIC' in terms of assisting a firm from the same parent. Top 5 funds that bet most in March 2018 Scheme Name Date Assets (%) Value (Rs Cr) Shares (Lakhs) ICICI Prudential Balanced Advantage 3/31/2018 0.81 210 40.38 ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt 3/31/2018 0.76 210 40.38 Reliance F