India’s Portfolio Managers Suffer Worst Loss In Six Months In June

India’s top portfolio managers suffered the worst loss in six months in June as shares of auto and consumer goods makers fell.

The 50 largest portfolio management firms—that collectively manage close to Rs 1.16 lakh crore of investor money—lost 1.6 percent on an average last month, according to data compiled by BloombergQuint from the disclosures made to the market regulator. That’s the worst return since January when the firms—accounting for more than 80 percent of the funds managed by all portfolio managers—lost about 4 percent.

The BSE S&P Sensex and NSE’s Nifty 50 Index fell 0.8 percent and 1.12 percent, respectively, in June. Even the broader market represented by the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty 500 Index declined 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The benchmark indices scaled lifetime highs on June 3 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to power with an even bigger majority. But since then India’s stock market has remained volatile as investors expected the government to announce measures to boost the economy in the budget.

Also Read: India’s Portfolio Managers Ride Modi Wave To Beat Benchmarks In May

Portfolio managers’ returns continued lag the Sensex and Nifty year-to-date and for the 12-month period. In the last 18 months, the top 50 portfolio managers have underperformed the benchmarks 10 times.

Nineteen of the top 50 portfolio managers tracked by BloombergQuint managed to beat the Sensex. Only 10 return gains in June. Basant Maheshwari Wealth Advisors was the best performer with a gain of 3.5 percent.

All except one among the top 10 portfolio managers—who together manage more than Rs 84,000 crore or $12 billion in assets under management—ended the month with losses. Alchemy managed to post marginally positive returns in June.

Here’s how the top 50 portfolio managers performed in June...

(Corrects an earlier version that misstated year-to-date returns of portfolio managers)