HDFC AMC drops 2% after Prashant Jain sells one-third of his shares in firm

NEW DELHI: Shares of HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) fell 2 per cent in Monday's trade amid reports that star fund management Prashant Jain sold a third of his stake worth Rs 74.79 crore in the fund house. Jain is the chief investment officer at AMC.

The reason behind Jain’s decision to sell a portion of the personal holdings could not be ascertained but it has heightened debate on HDFC Asset’s valuations, which a section of the market thinks is expensive. The stock has been on a roll, surging 126 per cent since the company’s listing in August 2018. The company’s IPO in July 2018 was priced at Rs 1,100 per share.

On Monday, the stock fell 1.55 per cent to hit a low of Rs 2,450.10 on BSE.

After the stake sale, Jain holds 5.88 lakh shares in the country’s second largest mutual fund worth roughly Rs 146 crore.

HDFC and Nippon Life Asset Management are the only two listed mutual funds in the 44-member industry. UTI Asset recently got the regulator’s approval for an IPO.

HDFC Asset is trading at 14% of its assets worth Rs 3.70 lakh crore as on March 31, 2020.

HDFC Asset shares, which had touched a low of Rs 1963.6 on March 25, have risen 27% in the last three months. The stock touched an all-time high of Rs 3844 on November 22, 2019.

The shares of the company closed 0.25 per cent lower at Rs 2482.50 on BSE.