Rakesh Jhunjhunwala stocks stay firm despite rocky start
By Ashley Coutinho
Despite some early wobbles, shares of companies in which ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala held sizeable stakes remained steady on Tuesday, the first day of trading since his demise.
Star Health and Allied Insurance and Metro Brands were down 1% and 0.5% in early trade before ending the day 0.5% higher and 1% lower, respectively.
Also read: Maruti Suzuki, Zomato among most bought stocks by fund managers in July, HDFC, ITC most sold
Crisil, which was down marginally, ended the day higher by 1.1%, while Titan, his biggest holding, was up 0.8%.
The benchmark Nifty 50 gained 0.7% on Tuesday.
The biggest gainers of the day were Fortis Healthcare (4.1%), Tata Motors (2.7%) and Nazara Technologies (2.6%).
“Fresh buying in these stocks, especially where he holds a big portion of the floating stock, may not happen in a big way. Any potential large buyers in these stocks may want to wait out a month or two in case his family decides to offload their holdings and the shares slide,” said Deepak Jasani, head – retail research, HDFC Securities.
Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett, passed away on Sunday at the age of 62. He was ranked 438 in Forbes’ 2022 billionaires list with a net worth of $5.8 billion and managed his own portfolio as a partner in asset management firm, Rare Enterprises. He managed a listed portfolio comprising 32 stocks.
“His absence will be missed for companies in which he sat on the board or was involved with the management of the company. Share prices of these companies could get impacted,” said G Chokkalingam, founder & MD of Equinomics Research & Advisory.
Experts suggest that the impact won’t be that pronounced in large companies where he was not part of the board or management.
Jhunjhunwala’s long-term picks such as Titan, Indian Hotels, Crisil and Lupin made him a household name in the Indian market.
He has developed a cult following among equity investors because of his stock-picking strategies and his methods of zeroing in on elusive multi-baggers. Many, in fact, have made it a habit of tracking his portfolio holdings religiously.
“He was a successful investor with a large following, and it will be difficult to fill that vacuum. There may be many individuals who have made it big in the markets but very few share their learnings and vision like he did,” said Chokkalingam.
Also read: Petrol and diesel price August 16: Fuel cost unchanged; Check prices in Delhi, Mumbai, other cities here
On Tuesday, Rare Enterprises and Quadria Capital-backed Concord Biotech filed its draft prospectus for an IPO.
The company is one of the leading global developers and manufacturers of select fermentation-based APIs across immunosuppressants and oncology. Some of its API clients include Intas Pharmaceuticals and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
