Jhunjhunwala pack added this new stock last quarter, topped up bets on three firms

The Indian capital market lost its first superstar in August. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, also known as the Big Bull, breathed his last on August 14, 2022. He left behind a legacy that spanned close to four decades through the highs and lows of the Dalal Street, having started his career with Rs 5,000 in the 1980s.

Jhunjhunwala is survived by his wife, Rekha, who is also an investor, besides his twin sons and a daughter. He had handpicked Radhakishan Damani of D-Mart, Amal Parikh and Kalpraj Dharamshi to form a committee to oversee the investment decisions of his flagship investment entity RARE Enterprises, which has assets of over Rs 40,000 crore.

We looked at the Jhunjhunwala pack of listed stocks and how it behaved last quarter, a few weeks with the man still in charge of its affairs and almost an equal period without him.

Buy and sell calls

One new stock in the pack is sewing machine maker Singer, which has added home and kitchen appliances to its product suite over the years. The investment was made in the name of Rekha Jhunjhunwala, and represented a 7.9% stake in the small cap firm.

The stock had nearly doubled when the transaction actually took place, just days after Jhunjhunwala passed away and possibly the last new stock pick he was involved with. The share price has moderated marginally since then but remains much above the level before the touch of Jhunjhunwala pack.

In addition, Jhunjhunwalas bought additional shares of three companies, Tata Communications, Titan and Fortis Healthcare. Titan, happens to be a long time pick of Jhunjhunwala and comprise roughly a third of the family’s overall wealth.

At the same time, they snipped or exited their stake in around half a dozen companies including a likely full exit from Indiabulls Housing Finance. Besides, they trimmed their holding in Jubilant Ingrevia, Federal Bank, Canara Bank, DB Realty, Rallis, Anant Raj and Edelweiss Financial.