FPIs' stock holding up by $105bn in Sept-March

Mumbai: THE value of the foreign portfolio investors' (FPI) holdings in the domestic equities reached a record $555 billion in 2020-21, a whopping $105 billion growth between September 2020 and March 2021, according to a report.

As against this, the value of the domestic institutional investors at $203 billion was not even half, according to the data compiled by Bank of America (BofA) Securities. FPIs have put in more money into the markets since then, having invested net $7.2 billion till April 16 (Year-To-Date 2021), making the country the only market that has seen net positive inflows in the year, despite a dip in March when it slowed to $1.4 billion from $3.5 billion in February and $2.2 billion in January. That means so far YTD 2021 they have net added zero investment unlike in all other emerging markets which saw massive outflows.

In 2020-21, FPIs, which have been the main driver of domestic equities, have pumped in a record $37 billion or Rs 2.75 lakh crore into the equities, the highest in two decades, according to the data from the National Securities Depository. Previously, in fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2013, FPI inflows had crossed $20 billion. Investments zoomed as major central banks pumped in trillions of dollars to try and revive the pandemic-hit economies, flooding markets with liquidity.

On the other hand, the domestic institutional investor inflows remained at a negative Rs 1.38 lakh crore in 2020-21 taking the total value of their holdings to $203 billion, spread across exchange traded funds ($38 billion), large-cap fund ($24 billion), flexi cap funds ($22 billion) and mid-cap fund ($16 billion), it said.

According to the report, after pumping a record $37 billion in 2020-21, the value of the FPI holding in the domestic equities is at a record high of $555 billion, which was only $450 billion at the end of September 2020 or 21.4 per cent of the market capitalisation.

As of June 2020 quarter, the value of FII investments in equities stood at $344 billion or 18.7 per cent of the market cap, which means in just three months, it has jumped 31 per cent. In September 2019, the value of FII investments was $429 billion. Meanwhile, the report also said domestic institutional investors (DIIs)also turned net buyer of the equities till April 16 (YTD21), with a net addition of $2.2 billion which is back to pre-pandemic level- they became net buyers in March after being net sellers for the past eight months in a row.

For FPIs, real estate/financials/energy were the main investments, while for DIIs it was more thematic funds, mid-cap funds, large and mid-cap fund. So far in 2021, active funds drove the flows ($1.2 billion) vs passive funds ($263 million), taking the YTD 2021 FII inflows at $7.2 billion until April 16. As against this, FPIs have been net sellers in major EMs in Arpil- Taiwan (-$5.5 billion), South Korea (-$1.3 billion) and Brazil (-$828 million).