Key facts
- HDFC Defence Fund added 5 lakh shares of Tata Motors, valued at Rs 18.97 crore.
- The fund sold approximately 50,000 shares of MTAR Technologies and 1.97 lakh shares of Rishabh Instruments.
- Significant additions were made to Bharat Electronics, with nearly 16.57 lakh shares added.
- The fund's highest allocations were in Bharat Electronics (15.48%), Bharat Forge (14.39%), Hindustan Aeronautics (12.06%), and Solar Industries (11.97%).
- The portfolio is predominantly in equities (98.25%) and spread across seven sectors, with capital goods (52.53%) and automobile & ancillaries (20.96%) being the largest.
The HDFC Defence Fund, the sole actively managed fund focused on the defence sector, made significant portfolio adjustments in May. The fund introduced Tata Motors as a new holding, acquiring 5 lakh shares valued at Rs 18.97 crore. Concurrently, it reduced its stake in MTAR Technologies by approximately 50,000 shares and sold 1.97 lakh shares of Rishabh Instruments.
In addition to these changes, the fund increased its exposure in five other defence-related stocks: Bharat Electronics, Bharat Forge, Bosch, Bharat Dynamics, and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders. The most substantial addition was nearly 16.57 lakh shares of Bharat Electronics. The fund's total number of holdings increased to 23 in May, up from 22 in April.
As of May 31, the fund's largest holdings by allocation were Bharat Electronics (15.48%), Bharat Forge (14.39%), Hindustan Aeronautics (12.06%), and Solar Industries (11.97%). The portfolio is heavily weighted towards equities (98.25%) and primarily invested in the capital goods sector (52.53%), followed by automobile & ancillaries (20.96%).
Launched in June 2023 and benchmarked against the Nifty India Defence - TRI, the fund has shown strong short-term performance, outperforming its benchmark in the last three months (12.92% vs 9.31%), six months (21.75% vs 19.24%), and one year (10.94% vs 4.41%). However, over three years, it has underperformed the benchmark (40.20% vs 51.40%).