RIP Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: A look at ace investor's last few months in the market

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who passed away on August 14 at the age of 62, was active in the stock market till the end.

The veteran investor, who ran a portfolio worth nearly $5 billion, made several investments and exits in the last six months, including a high-profile exit from Delta Corp, increasing his bet in Canara Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance.

Here’s a look at some of the activity of the veteran investor in 2022:

Investments

Between the December quarter and the June quarter, Jhunjhunwala’s investments were fairly limited as he raised stakes in three stocks— Indiabulls Housing Finance, Canara Bank and Jubilant Pharmova.

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In Canara Bank, Jhunjhunwala raised his stake from 1.6 percent in the December quarter to 2 percent in the June quarter. In Indiabulls Housing Finance, the ace investor raised his stake from 1.1 percent to 1.2 percent, while in Jubilant Pharmova his holding rose to 6.8 percent from 6.3 percent during the same period.

Also read: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's greatest investment hits, and odd misses

Trims and exits

The number of stocks in which Jhunjhunwala either trimmed his stake or completely exited rose substantially in the previous two quarters, data from Trendlyne showed.

Jhunjhunwala trimmed his stake or exited 14 stocks in the past two quarters, a number higher than any other such two-quarter period in recent years.

Some of the high-profile exits included Delta Corp, Steel Authority of India, Indiabulls Real Estate, National Aluminium Company and TV18 Broadcast.

Some stocks where he trimmed his holdings were Tata Motors, DB Realty, Autoline Industries, Escorts Kubota, and Federal Bank among others.

Bulk deals

While Jhunjhunwala was involved in a few transfers of his stake from the portfolio of RARE Enterprises, his investment firm, to his personal portfolio, the only meaningful bulk trade done by the veteran investor this year was in Leading Leasing Finance and Investment Company.

Jhunjhunwala bought 50,000 shares of the company in a bulk deal at Rs 146.93 a share on the BSE window on August 1.

Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.