MFs' equity portfolio hit hard during February corrections

February was a tough month for India's equity asset managers. With a sudden and sharp decline after the Union Budget, several of the equity schemes lost value and under-performed their respective benchmarks. In a month where key stock indices lost about 5 per cent, almost all of the 20 top most invested stocks by mutual funds lost, on an average, about 6 per cent of their value. Only one, Infosys, saw marginal gains of 2 per cent. Collectively, these 20 top stocks have cornered over Rs 2.6 trillion of equity assets - more than a fourth of the total equity asset under management (AUM) and form the core part of equity investment in investors' portfolios. Stocks, including ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, YES Bank and Indian Oil Corp, lost 9-15 per cent. Even heavyweights like HDFC, HDFC Bank, L&T and Maruti Suzuki were not spared, and declined 6-8 per cent.