Jefferies’ Chris Wood Rejigs India Portfolio: IndiGo Added, This PSU Stock Removed – News18
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In his latest GREED & Fear note on Friday, February 28, Wood also revealed changes to his global long-only portfolio
Jefferies’ Chris Wood Rejigs India Portfolio
Veteran global fund manager Chris Wood of Jefferies has made further adjustments to his India long-only portfolio, adding India’s largest airline, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo). IndiGo will have a 4 per cent weight in the portfolio, funded by the removal of Coal India Ltd. and a one-percentage-point reduction in the investment in industrial player Thermax.
In his latest GREED & Fear note on Friday, February 28, Wood also revealed changes to his global long-only portfolio. He plans to increase his position in Alibaba by one percentage point, which will be financed by trimming his investment in ICICI Bank by the same amount.
Wood mentioned that the recent sell-off in Indian markets is largely technical, driven by multiple compression rather than any significant macroeconomic issues. The Nifty is down 14 per cent from its peak, while the Midcap index has fallen 19 per cent. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have been aggressive sellers, contributing significantly to the downturn.
The sell-off has primarily affected high-beta domestic cyclical sectors such as real estate, infrastructure, and industrials, which were last year’s top performers. As a result, Wood’s India portfolio, heavily weighted in these sectors, outperformed the Nifty by 18.7 per cent in U.S. dollar terms on a total-return basis until December 17, but has since underperformed by 12.1 per cent.
Wood also noted that any potential easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve could be a boost for emerging markets, including India, which would benefit from a weaker US dollar.
The Nifty heads into the March series after five consecutive months of losses.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation closed 0.3 per cent higher on Thursday at Rs 4,442.3, but are still down 12 per cent from their peak of Rs 5,035.