Mutual funds pivot to IPOs in November amid record number of deals

Invest Rs 3,300 crore in maiden offerings, pull out from secondary market

Equity mutual funds (MFs) pruned their holdings from the secondary markets to create dry powder for investing in maiden share sales.

According to the data provided by Nuvama Wealth Management, MFs pumped in a cumulative Rs 3,300 crore into eight initial public offerings (IPOs) that hit the market in November. Their overall equity investments last month stood at Rs 1,700 crore (without IPOs, equity MFs would have been net-sellers of Rs 1,600 crore).

“MFs preferred deployment in IPOs over the secondary markets,” observes Abhilash Pagaria, head-alternative and quantitative research, Nuvama Wealth Management.

According to an analysis conducted by him, MFs