Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the perma-bull investor of Indian stock market, may no longer be around, but he leaves a great lesson for all of us: never give up. During the Covid February-March 2020 crash, when stocks were falling like nine pins and investors were dropping their favourite equities like a hot potato, records show the famed investor held on to his stocks. Over two years since, the stocks held by the big bull have already zoomed roughly 2-12 times, thus adding thousands of crores to his wealth.
Covid rally gains
As per shareholding data for Jhunjhunwala and his associates as of the March 2020 quarter, the doyen of Dalal Street had exposure to about 30 stocks. June 2022 quarter holding data for 19 of them are available today since not all companies may have reported their shareholding data till now.
The 19 ‘old’ holdings just after the Covid crash were valued at about ₹6,532 crore. In that market correction, many stocks in the pack of 19 corrected 40-50 per cent. These included his prominent holdings such as Titan Company, Escorts Kubota, Crisil, Rallis India, Fortis Healthcare, Federal Bank and Jubilant Pharma.
In the ensuing period, i.e. over two years later, these prominent holdings have grown thanks to a 2-3 times rise in individual stock price. Apart from these, the most significant increases in stock price from Covid lows were seen in his other holdings, such as D B Realty (12 times), Man Infraconstruction (8 times), Anant Raj (7 times) and Bilcare (4 times). So, today, Jhunjhunwala’s 19 stocks are valued at a whopping Rs 17,738 crore, nearly three-fold of March 2020 value. This easily beats Sensex’s 2.1 times rise during the same period. Do note some of Jhunjhunwala’s holdings have seen marginal hikes, while some have seen a little trimming.
Latest portfolio scan
As per the latest available shareholding data filed, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and known associates now publicly hold 32 stocks with a portfolio market value of nearly ₹32,000 crore (see table). A bulk (89 per cent) of this ₹32,000 crore wealth is concentrated in 10 stocks, namely Titan Company, Star Health, Metro Brands, Tata Motors, Crisil, Fortis Healthcare, Federal Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Hotels Co. and NCC.
The top-3 i.e. Titan Company (over ₹11,000 crore), Star Health (over ₹7,000 crore) and Metro Brands (over ₹3,000 crore alone account for 2/3rd of his known portfolio (where he holds 1 per cent or more of company’s equity). In the case of Titan, Jhunjhunwala’s wealth grew in step with the stock price that has risen 295 per cent in just the last five years. Comparatively, Star Health and Metro Brands are recent IPO listings. While Star Health stock fell since listing, Metro has been on a tearing run.
As per the latest shareholding data, Jhunjhunwala’s preference for consumption-oriented stocks is evident with the likes of Titan, Metro Brands, Indian Hotels etc. Being an ever-optimist in the Indian economy, Jhunjhunwala’s slant towards financials is also apparent in the form of holdings such as Star Heath Insurance, Federal Bank, Canara Bank, Crisil, Karur Vysya Bank, Edelweiss Financial, Geojit Financial, Indiabulls Housing etc. In the auto sector, he has positions in Tata Motors and Escorts Kubota while in healthcare, his positions include Dishman Carbogen, Jubilant Pharmanova, Wockhardt and Fortis Healthcare.