BusinessLine (Delhi)

RaGa bets big on stock markets; holds 90% of ₹9.25cr movable assets in stocks, MFs

Wayanad MP and INC leader rides on market opportunit­ies to grow personal wealth

- KR Srivats

Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi has turned out to be an astute stock market investor going by his diversifie­d equity portfolio of 25 stocks and 5 MF schemes, his election affidavit for the upcoming General Elections showed.

Riding on the bull run in stock market in the last one year, his overall stock and mutual fund holdings in aggregate was valued at ₹8.14 crore as of March 15 this year.

This coupled with RBI Sovereign Gold Bonds’ holdings of 220 units (valued at ₹15.22 lakh as of March 15) represente­d nearly 90 percent of his movable assets of ₹9.25 crore, according to the affidavit.

While the Congress leader, who is again contesting from Wayanad in the 2024 general elections, has no car in his name, he has bet big on mid cap stocks and smallcap focused mutual fund scheme. Besides the 53yearold Con

Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi

gress leader has declared cash of ₹55,000 and savings bank deposits of ₹ 25.25 lakh (significan­t portion of it in a private sector bank).

OTHER INVESTMENT­S

Furthermor­e, Gandhi also has investment­s in National Savings Schemes, Postal Savings, insurance policies, and other ventures aggregatin­g ₹61.52 lakh.

According to the latest affidavit, Rahul Gandhi has a net worth of ₹20.4 crore, higher than ₹15.89 crore declared in 2019.

This included the value of the immovable assets amounting to ₹11.15 crore. With an annual income exceeding ₹1 crore, Gandhi has also declared ownership of agricultur­al land and joint ownership of farmhouse with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi’s Mehrauli, along with an office space in Gurugram valued at about ₹11 crore.

STOCK PORTFOLIO

While the 25 Stocks — which comprised a judicious mix of large cap names and mid cap stocks — had market value of ₹4.34 crore, the mutual fund holdings (equity, debt and hybrid schemes) had value of ₹3.81 crore as of March 15.

Rahul Gandhi’s top ten equity holdings by market value comprised of Pidilite Industries, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Titan Limited, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Divi’s Laboratori­es and Suprajit Engineerin­g.

BLUE CHIP STOCKS

Besides these top ten, he also has equity holdings in Tata

Consultanc­y Services, Infosys and ITC among other blue chip stocks.

Interestin­gly, Gandhi has no equity exposure to any of the seven listed Adani Group Companies or to the Mukesh Ambaniled listed companies.

Of the seven mutual fund schemes worth ₹3.81 crore that Gandhi owns, as many as four are from HDFC Asset Management, two from ICICI and one from Parag Parikh Mutual Fund House (PPFAS FCF D Growth). His largest holding in mutual fund scheme by market value is with HDFC Small Cap RegG at ₹1.24 crore, the affidavit showed.

BALANCED APPROACH

Commenting on Ràhûl Gandhi’s equity portfolio and his stock selection skills, Sonam Srivastava, Founder and Fund Manager, at Wright Research, said: “Rahul Gandhi’s asset portfolio demonstrat­es a strategy of diversific­ation, with a significan­t portion of his movable assets allocated to mutual funds and stocks”.

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