LIC nets Rs 10,000 crore by taking bold contrarian stock calls

LIC’s mantra is simple: buy shares of operationally sound companies that are caught in unfavourable business cycle and trading at a lower multiple. Based on the latest stock holdings, the state-owned insurer has gained almost Rs 10,000 crore in the past four quarters on back of its contrarian calls on scrips like BHEL and Axis Bank.

“What works in favour of LIC is the duration of holding period for a stock. Being an insurance company, it can hold stock for 8-10 years. However, mutual funds do not have such flexibility as they are under pressure to outperform the benchmark index on a quarterly basis,” said G Chokkalingam, Founder, Equinomics Research.