Mutual funds leave insurance companies in the shade on anchor allotments

Insurance participation in IPOs has risen but MF allocations have grown even faster

Issuers have allotted nearly four times as much to mutual funds (MFs) as they have to insurance companies in recent quarters.

 

MFs invested ₹21,976 crore as anchor investors in initial public offerings (IPOs) on a trailing four-quarter basis, according to data from Prime Database. Insurance companies, by comparison, bought shares worth ₹5,216 crore during the same period.

 

Anchor investors are institutional investors who receive an early allocation in an IPO, subject to a lock-in. MFs are guaranteed one-third of the anchor quota. In a July 31 consultation paper, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposed an additional 7