Quant Mutual Fund (MF) schemes have quit all of their holdings in HDFC Bank after investing heavily in the private bank in June. HDFC Bank, which was a key holding in various schemes of Quant MF as of the end of June, has since been excluded from the top 10 holdings, as per recent data. In June 2024, Quant ELSS Tax Saver Growth emerged as the largest buyer of HDFC Bank shares by acquiring 58.57 lakh shares, which represented 0.08% of the bank's total paid-up equity, as reported by Trendlyn data. Despite traditionally maintaining a cautious stance towards private banks, Quant Mutual Fund strategically increased its exposure to HDFC Bank, now positioning it as one of the fund's top holdings. In the June factsheet released by the fund house, it has been highlighted that HDFC Bank had a holding equivalent to around 7.27%, 9.28%, 6.62%, and 10.44% of the Net Asset Value (NAV) in the Quant Small Cap Fund, Quant Mid Cap Fund, Quant Active Fund, and Quant Flexi Cap Fund, respectively. As of August, the fund house invested in HFCL, Reliance Industries and Jio Financial for its small cap fund, for its active funds, Quant MF invested in Reliance Industries, Aurobindo Pharma and ITC. For Quant ELSS Tax Saver Growth, the fund house is investing in Reliance Industries, Adani Power and Samvardhana Motherson International Limited. For midcap fund, it has invested in Reliance Industries, Aurobindo Pharma and Container Corp of India. Quant MF had been preferring ITC in the past few months. In July, Quant Mutual Fund acquired a stake in ITC and reduced its holding in HDFC Bank. The fund purchased 7.41 crore shares in ITC valued at Rs 3,669 crore. In terms of schemes, Quant Flexi Cap purchased approximately 134 million ITC shares valued at Rs 666 crore. Following this, Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund and Quant Large & Midcap Fund also invested in ITC. The Tax Saver Fund and Large & Midcap Fund acquired shares worth Rs 440 crore and Rs 299 crore in ITC, respectively. Similarly, other schemes including Quant Quantamental Fund Regular Plan and Quant Active Fund made investments totaling around Rs 261 crore and Rs 221 crore in ITC, respectively. Quant MF divested Rs 4,763 crore worth of holdings, equivalent to 2.95 crore shares, in HDFC Bank during the month of July. Consequently, the fund's investment in HDFC Bank stood at a value of Rs 2,800 crore in July, a notable reduction from Rs 7,871 crore in the previous month. Breaking it down further across specific schemes, Quant SmallCap Fund - Growth liquidated its entire position in HDFC Bank, amounting to Rs 1602 crore. This was followed by Quant Mid Cap Fund - Growth at Rs 779 crore, Quant Large & MidCap Fund - Growth at Rs 322 crore, and Quant Quantamental Fund - Growth at Rs 254 crore. Quant Mutual Fund has emerged as a top performer in the equity scheme category, exhibiting admirable results in recent years due to its successful high-conviction investment strategies. Specifically, in the year 2022, its funds capitalised on the strong momentum witnessed in Adani Group stocks. In July, Quant Mutual Fund made the decision to completely divest from various stocks. The stocks include Shipping Corp of India (Rs 893 crore), Kubota (Rs 607 crore), NHPC (Rs 538 crore), HEG (Rs 445 crore), Railtel Corp (Rs 400 crore), and Graphite India (Rs 334 crore), among other positions. In the same month, the fund house expanded its portfolio by including 22 new stocks valued at Rs 2,950 crore. The prominent acquisitions during this period included shares of Piramal Enterprises, totaling 45.85 lakh shares worth Rs 477 crore, as well as investments in MRF and Lloyds Metals & Energy, with purchases of 28,908 shares and 52 lakh shares respectively, amounting to Rs 411 crore and Rs 380 crore. Quant MF performance The performance of the fund house has faced challenges in recent months, which aligns with the Sebi launching an investigation into potential front-running activities within the fund house in June. In the last one month, 16 equity mutual funds have displayed negative returns. Among these, a notable portion consisted of eight funds managed by Quant Mutual Fund. The affected funds include Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Quant Value Fund, Quant Large Cap Fund, and Quant Mid Cap Fund. Specific data reveals that Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund experienced a decrease of 1.08% over the past month, while Quant Value Fund saw a decline of approximately 1.03% during the same period. Furthermore, Quant Large Cap Fund and Quant Mid Cap Fund exhibited losses of 0.97% and 0.91%, respectively. In the latest performance update, Quant Flexi Cap Fund experienced a decline of approximately 0.89%, while Quant Focused Fund showed a decrease of about 0.84%. Similarly, Quant Active Fund and Quant Large & Mid Cap Fund delivered negative returns of around 0.63% and 0.62% correspondingly during the same evaluation period. Quant Mutual Fund manages a diverse portfolio of 27 investment funds, covering both debt and equity instruments. The standout performers come from the sectoral and thematic fund categories, showcasing the expertise of Quant Mutual Fund. Notably, Quant Healthcare Fund emerged as the top performer with an impressive return of 6.32%. Quant Business Cycle Fund and Quant Commodities Fund followed closely behind, delivering returns of 3.28% and 3.21% respectively in the previous month. Quant Manufacturing Fund also achieved a commendable return of 1.88%, underlining Quant Mutual Fund's dedication to creating value for its investors.
