$8 bn fund manager Axis Mutual Fund adds battered auto stocks to portfolio

The S&P BSE Auto Index has declined 14 per cent so far this year

Axis Mutual Fund is looking at one of India’s most beaten-down sectors -- the auto industry -- to help keep it in the top ranks of the nation’s asset managers.

The investor is slowly increasing exposure to select companies as it sees “some signs” of demand revival with a better-than-expected monsoon and lower corporate tax rates supporting sentiment.

“We are adding auto to our portfolio,” Jinesh Gopani, head of equity for Axis Asset Management Co., overseeing about 570 billion rupees ($8 billion) of assets, said in an interview on Friday. “In another two years, the sector could come back.”

The S&P BSE Auto