WHAT DOES MUTUAL FUND CHURN TELL US?
Here we look at the key large cap stocks churned by the largest Indian mutual funds by equity AUM. Equity AUM is not just of active equity funds, but also the equity holdings in hybrid funds and passive funds. The big fund houses act as bellwethers for the market and individual and institutional investors track their actions closely for signals.
What signals can individual investors pick up from this churn? Should they buy stocks that mutual funds are buying and vice versa? Not necessarily. Funds may have their own exposure considerations. Also, your risk appetite will not match with the fund’s risk appetite or its objective. However, clustered actions give some broad indications of wind direction.
- SBI MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of SBI Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| Bharti Airtel | Infosys Ltd | Pearl Global |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | HDFC Bank | Minda Corporation |
| Axis Bank | ICICI Bank | Supreme Energy |
| Reliance Industries | JSW Energy | |
| Swiggy Ltd |
For investors, SBI MF appears to be shifting from the large private banks to the next rung of private banks by size like Kotak Bank and Axis Bank. There was some caution in Infosys ahead of Results, but Bharti Airtel continued to the MF favourite in December 2025.
- ICICI PRUDENTIAL MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of ICICI Pru Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| NTPC Ltd | Infosys Ltd | Aavas Financiers |
| HDFC Bank | Maruti Suzuki | Akums Drugs & Pharma |
| ICICI Bank | Reliance Industries | GE Vernova T&D |
| Axis Bank | Larsen & Toubro | Swiggy Ltd |
| Bajaj Housing Finance |
For investors, ICICI Pru MF is still broadly positive on banks, although it has been cutting stake in industrials. Among the smaller alpha generating stocks, Swiggy Ltd appears to be a hot favourite for its strong digital quick commerce franchise.
- HDFC MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of HDFC Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| Maruti Suzuki | NIL | Muthoot Finance |
| Reliance Industries | Tata Chemicals | |
| Larsen & Toubro | Polycab India | |
| HDFC Bank | Tube Investments | |
| State Bank of India (SBI) | Kaynes Technology |
For investors, HDFC MF is positive on the markets and has been neutral on some large cap stocks, but no selling. Among the smaller alpha generating stocks, Muthoot was preferred for its gold loan business and there was bottom fishing in Kaynes after the 40% correction.
- NIPPON LIFE MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of Nippon Life Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| ICICI Bank | Infosys Ltd | Hatsun Agro |
| NTPC Ltd | Bharat Electronics | ITC Hotels |
| HDFC Bank | Westlife (McDonald) | |
| State Bank of India (SBI) | Patanjali Foods | |
| Axis Bank | Lodha Developers |
For investors, Nippon Life MF is betting big on large cap banks to play the domestic India growth story. It has been an aggressive seller in Infosys, probably ahead of the Q3 results. It has also pared positions in BEL, after the sharp run-up. Small stocks are largely food-based.
- UTI MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of UTI Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| State Bank of India (SBI) | Kotak Mahindra Bank | L&T Finance |
| Bharti Airtel | Infosys Ltd | Ashok Leyland |
| Reliance Industries | HDFC Bank | GMR Airports |
| Larsen & Toubro | ICICI Bank | Tata Elxsi |
| ITC Ltd | Akzo Nobel India |
For investors, UTI Mutual Fund seems to be on a pair trade; long on PSU banks and short on private banks. Apart from SBI, the UTI Fund is long on industrials. On the sell side, apart from the private banks, the fund was also a seller in Infosys ahead of results.
- ABSL MUTUAL FUND: EQUITY PORTFOLIO CHURN IN DECEMBER 2025
The table below captures the stock churn of ABSL Mutual Fund in December 2025.
| Large Cap Stocks Added | Large Cap Stocks Reduced | Bottom-up Alpha Additions |
| Reliance Industries | Infosys Ltd | Bajaj Housing Finance |
| Larsen & Toubro | M&M Financial | |
| ICICI Bank | Bank of Maharashtra | |
| HDFC Bank | Kirloskar Brothers | |
| State Bank of India (SBI) | Swiggy Ltd |
Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) MF was only positive on Reliance Industries, while paring stakes in Infosys and the banks. The fund’s bottom-up additions are largely loaded with financials with a bias towards NBFC stocks.
| LLM Summary
For most of the large mutual funds, December has been a month of consolidation of gains. Banks continued to be the preferred sector, most funds have been wary of Infosys stock ahead of results. In the bottom-up space, the focus was on ecommerce and BFSI. What does this mean for investors? In an uncertain global environment, domestic consumption plays like banks could still be the best bet. Also, Q3 has been better than expected for Infosys, so it could be the surprise package for investors. |