What stood out, however, was that portfolios of marquee investors, many with meaningful exposure to small and midcap stocks, faced even deeper cuts, highlighting how macro shocks can overwhelm stock-specific strengths in the short term.
Yet, amid the turbulence, the ace investors did not remain passive. Instead, they actively reshaped their portfolios, cutting exposure where risks rose, while selectively deploying capital into new opportunities.
Ashish Kacholia, known for his high-conviction bets, leaned into fresh opportunities while reinforcing select holdings. He made notable new entries, including Finbud Financial Services with a sizable 5.4% stake and Indo SMC at 2.5%. His confidence in Techera Engineering strengthened, increasing his stake from 4.8% in December to 6.2% in March. He also added to positions in SG Finserve, Aeroflex Industries, Z-Tech, and Tanfac Industries. However, he trimmed exposure in some names—Vasa Denticity saw a reduction to 2.7% (down 0.8%), while Radiowalla Network declined sharply to 3.2% from 7.8% in the December quarter.
Madhusudan Murlidhar Kela also remained active, introducing new names such as Aptech (1.1%), Indiabulls (2.2%), and Simplex Infra (1.2%) into his portfolio. He marginally increased his stake in Kopran to 1.8% from 1.5%. On the flip side, his holding in Windsor Machines edged lower from 7.48% to 7.36%, while he reduced exposure to SG Finserve, Bombay Dyeing, and Unicommerce eSolutions.
Mukul Mahavir Agrawal displayed one of the most aggressive portfolio reshuffles during the quarter. He added several new names, including True Colours (1.6%), E to E Transportation (13.9%), Brandman Retail (4%), Gaudium IVF (3.4%), and Yaap Digital (1.4%). He also increased his stake in Capacite Infraprojects to 6.6% from 6.1%, alongside raising exposure to Valor, Hindustan Construction, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, and West Coast Paper. At the same time, he pruned positions such as Infobeans Tech, which declined by 0.8% to 3.1%, and reduced exposure to Autoriders International. There were also likely exits from Indo Count, Pearl Global and OneSource Specialty Pharma.
Dolly Khanna’s portfolio reflected both caution and opportunity. She trimmed her stake in Prakash Industries from 2.57% in December 2025 to 2.26% in March 2026. At the same time, she added fresh exposure to Chennai Petrochem (1.3%) and initiated smaller positions in Rain Industries and Sharda Crop Chem (1.1% each). There were also signs of exits, with likely reductions or complete exits from GHCL, IFB Agro Industries, and National Oxygen. IFB Agro, where she held 1.13% in December, no longer featured in the March data. Additionally, her holding in Som Distilleries declined from 2.1% to 1.5%, suggesting a more defensive stance.Taken together, the activity across these four investors underscores a common theme: while the broader market sentiment was dominated by fear and selling pressure, experienced investors used the drawdown to recalibrate. They exited weaker bets, reduced risk in select holdings, and simultaneously accumulated stocks where they saw long-term value.
Where are markets headed?
Looking ahead, brokerages remain cautiously optimistic. Emkay Global Financial Services expects oil prices to stabilise in the $75–80 range over the next couple of months and sees the Nifty 50 reaching 29,000 by March 2027, supported by easing geopolitical tensions and earnings growth of 13–15% between FY25 and FY27.
Prabhudas Lilladher, in its bull-case scenario, is even more optimistic, projecting a 24% rally in the Nifty to 30,089 over the next 12 months. The brokerage is constructive on domestic-facing sectors such as banks, NBFCs, capital goods, defence, power utilities, telecom, metals, hospitals, pharma, jewellery, and consumer durables, while remaining cautious on IT services, export-oriented businesses, cement, chemicals, and oil & gas.
Reflecting this outlook, it has increased allocation to banks, capital goods, metals, and telecom, while trimming exposure to consumer and auto sectors due to inflationary pressures and the second-order impact of elevated crude prices. It also highlighted risks from rising inflation and potential weather disruptions, noting that recent earnings may not yet fully capture these headwinds.
Also read: HCL Tech shares tank over 9% after weak Q4. JPMorgan, HSBC & 3 others cut target price
In essence, the March quarter served as a reminder that even the most seasoned investors are not immune to sharp market corrections, especially in segments like small- and mid-caps. But it also reinforced a more important lesson: periods of stress often create the very opportunities that long-term investors seek.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)