Investing begins at home

Fund houses generally have to cast their net far and wide in search for fundamentally-sound stocks. But not so much in recent months, as they have found a few closer home. Ever since AMC stock prices started losing altitude over the last year, it has got some of their fellow peers excited. Excited because it gives them an opportunity to invest in sound businesses at bargain prices. Case in point being PPFAS Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund dramatically increasing their stake in UTI Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund between December and March, respectively. (For context, AMCs, or asset management companies, and mutual fund houses mean the same thing). While PPFAS Mutual Fund boosted its holding in UTI AMC almost fourfold, from 0.66 per cent in December 2022 to 2.52 per cent in March 2023, SBI Mutual Fund upped its stake in HDFC AMC by more than six times, from 0.46 per cent in December 2022 to 2.97 per cent in March 2023. Such a large jump in ownership over a short period is not a very common pattern in the mutual fund business. All fall down In total, t