Singapore's GIC affiliate Caladium Investment PTE has raised stake in Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank to 4.49 percent in the March quarter from 3.39 percent in the December quarter, according to the latest shareholding pattern of the bank on the stock exchange.
Caladium Investment, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, now holds 7.2 crore shares in the bank. Bandhan’s share price has tumbled 65 percent to under Rs 200 apiece from a 52-week high of Rs 650 apiece on October 29, 2019. Caladium purchased the shares from the open market.
Sovereign wealth funds are increasingly getting interested to pick up shares in Indian financial institutions. For instance, The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) purchased 1.75 crore shares in one of the largest housing finance lenders, HDFC Ltd.
The Chinese Central Bank bought 17,492,909 shares, or 1.01 percent of the shareholding, according to exchange data. The share purchase is likely to have happened between January and March. Similarly, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) also picked up a 0.7 percent stake in HDFC on behalf of Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
Like PBoC, the Saudi Arabian central bank, too, has been raking up its stake in HDFC over the last few years and now holds a 0.7 percent stake. Other major holders include the government of Singapore which holds a 3.23 percent stake in HDFC.
Temasek, a Singapore state-controlled investment company has investments in a number of Indian companies. Over the years, it has invested 5 percent of its global portfolio in India.
Central banks and governments picking up stakes in major financial institutions across the world are common. This is part of the sovereign investment strategy and a way of diversifying their investment presence.
But of late, sovereign funds and other overseas investors are increasingly looking at Indian companies as share prices have fallen and these entities look good to global investors from an investment perspective.
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