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State-run insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India has ₹9,78,493.814 crore of policyholders’ funds invested in equities, which amounts to nearly a quarter of all its investments.
“As at September 30, 2021, our policyholders had total investments of ₹39,495,163.78 million on a standalone basis, including investments of more than ₹9,784,938.14 million in equities, representing 24.78 per cent of investments,” LIC said in its draft red herring prospectus.
In comparison, about ₹7,96,793.8 crore or 21.67 per cent of its total investments was in equities as on March 31, 2021. It was much lower at ₹4.61 lakh crore or 15.02 per cent as on March 31, 2020.
The insurer added that about 90 per cent of the policyholders’ equity investments in India are held in stocks that are a part of the Nifty 200 and BSE 200 indices.
This amounted to about 4 per cent of NSE’s market capitalisation as on September 30, 2021, according to a report by Crisil.
IDBI Bank and LIC Housing Finance, where the insurer holds 49.24 per cent stake and 45.24 per cent stake, respectively, are the two top equity investments.
According to BSE data, as of December 31, 2021, other notable investments by LIC include a 16.23 per cent stake in ITC Ltd, 14.22 per cent in Hindustan Copper, and 12.16 per cent in Larsen & Toubro.
The DRHP, which was filed on February 13, also highlighted the top sectors, wherein equity investments by the insurer comprise over 5 per cent of its total investments.
This is led by financial services (excluding insurance) where LIC held 21.98 per cent of the total equity investments as on September 30, 2021, followed by 10.52 per cent in infrastructure-related activities and 7.58 per cent in manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal, chemical and botanical products. .
A recent report by primeinfobase.com had revealed that LIC commanded a lion’s share of investments in equities by insurance companies at 77 per cent share as on September 30, 2021.
“In Re value terms, LIC holding was at ₹9.39 lakh crore on September 30, 2021. This was an increase of 11.38 per cent over the last quarter,” it said.
In value terms, the top companies in which LIC had the maximum holding included Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, Infosys and State Bank of India, it further said.
As on the quarter ending September 30, 2021, the value of LIC’s holding in RIL was ₹98,876 crore and ₹51,294 crore in TCS. Similarly, the value of its investment in ITC was ₹47,173 crore and ₹39,100 crore in Infosys.
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