Hindenburg Report: Rs 41,814 crore of mutual funds at stake in 10 Adani group companies

A new report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleging that SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch were involved in Adani Group’s offshore funds has brought to light investments worth Rs 41,814 crore made by mutual funds in 10 Adani group companies.

On August 10, Hindenburg Research said whistleblower documents alleged that SEBI chair Madhabi Buch and her husband had a stake in shadowy offshore entities linked to Adani.

In a joint statement, Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch have denied allegations by Hindenburg Research that the SEBI chairman had a stake in Adani-linked entities.

On the morning of August 12, Adani Group Shares Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Lts were down 2.44 per cent and trading at Rs 1,496.75, Ambuja Cements was flat at Rs 628.25, ACC was down 1.49 per cent at Rs 2,316.35 and Adani Enterprises was down 4.10 per cent at Rs 3,054.50 around 9.45 am (IST).

How mutual funds are invested

There are currently 11 Adani group companies listed on the Indian markets: Ambuja Cements, ACC, Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, Sanghi Industries, Adani Wilmar and New Delhi Television.

However, mutual funds do not have investments in NDTV alone.

As per data available with Value Research, among the 10 companies, Adani Ports and SEZ has the highest mutual fund exposure at Rs 13,024.22 crore, followed by Ambuja Cements (Rs 8,999.25 crore), ACC (Rs 7,668.38 crore) and Adani Enterprises (Rs 7,290.63 crore) as of the end of July 2024. In terms of asset-liability mix, ACC has the lowest passive mutual fund allocation at 0.8 per cent. On the other hand, Adani Wilmar has the largest passive mutual fund investments at 100 per cent.

Over the past two years, Adani Group shares have seen a steady rise in active mutual fund participation.

Of the total Rs 41,813.57 crore invested by mutual funds, Rs 11,777.36 crore is held by passive mutual funds and Rs 30,036.21 crore is held by passive mutual fund schemes.

The largest mutual fund investments

Adani Ports and SEZ has the largest share of mutual funds as 111 schemes have invested a total of Rs 13,024.22 crore in the company. Of this, the share of passive funds is 55.9 per cent at Rs 7,284.32 crore.

SBI Nifty 50 ETF has the highest amount invested in equities (Adani Ports) at Rs 1,520.59 crore, followed by Kotak Equity Arbitrage Fund at Rs 701.90 crore and SBI Arbitrage Opportunities Fund at Rs 649.12 crore.

In terms of percentage of net investments, DSP Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund has the highest exposure at 4.17 per cent (amount invested: Rs 133.78 crore), followed by NJ Arbitrage Fund at 3.99 per cent (Rs 15.44 crore) and DSP Equity Savings Fund at 3.04 per cent (Rs 40.99 crore) in Adani Ports and SEZ.