Fund managers buy 1.7 mn PNB shares in Feb despite 40% slump in price

Several of the large equity schemes have taken quite a sizeable exposure to the bank in terms of number of shares, data shows

Many mutual fund (MF) managers added shares of fraud-hit Punjab National Bank (PNB) to their portfolios in February, amid a 40 per cent slide in the counter. A total of 1.7 million shares of the state-owned bank were added by equity MFs, data shows.

Put together, the number of shares in fund managers’ holdings, by end-February was 233.8 million, against 232.1 million at end-January. 

Overall allocation to PNB in terms of assets, however, is marginal.

“We did not expect the fall to be so fast and steep. It was only when shares cracked below Rs 125 that we started buying,” said a fund