The March quarter proved particularly challenging for India's most prominent investors, with geopolitical tensions stemming from the Iran conflict triggering a broad equity sell-off. According to The Economic Times, while the Nifty fell 13% during the quarter, several portfolios of marquee investors saw much higher proportions of their holdings end in the red. A comprehensive review of portfolios of Mukul Agrawal, Ashish Kacholia, Vijay Kedia, Rekha Jhunjhunwala and Dolly Khanna revealed that losses dominated across the board, with only a small fraction of stocks delivering gains.
Mukul Agrawal held the widest exposure among the group, maintaining 65 stocks in his portfolio. As reported by The Economic Times, only 5 stocks, or about 8%, ended the quarter in the green, while 60 stocks, or over 92%, declined. The standout performers included Apollo Pipes which rose 41% during the quarter, KRN Heat Exchanger gained 17%, and J&K Bank advanced 10%. However, these gains were outweighed by widespread declines across industrial, real estate and specialty chemical names, with stocks like Vikran Engineering and Ajmera Realty slumping nearly 50% in just three months.
Ashish Kacholia, another closely followed investor, held 34 stocks at the end of December quarter, with only 5 stocks, or about 14.7%, delivering positive returns while 29 stocks, or over 85%, slipped into losses. According to The Economic Times, Aeroflex Industries rallied the highest at 24%, Advait Energy gained 16%, and Jain Resource Recycling was up about 10%. However, several consumption and small-cap names saw sharp declines, with stocks like Agarwal Industrial, Vikran Engineering and Zaggle Prepaid posting losses over 40%.
Rekha Jhunjhunwala's portfolio appeared relatively more stable compared to peers, though it was still largely in the red, with 27 stocks showing mixed performance. As reported by The Economic Times, Karur Vysya Bank rose 10% during the quarter, while Star Health gained a marginal 0.5%. On the downside, several midcap names like Advent International and Raghav Productivity saw corrections over 40%. Vijay Kedia, who held 17 stocks as of December 2025 end, saw one of the highest concentrations of losses with only 1 stock, or about 5.9%, ending in positive territory while 16 stocks, or over 94%, declined.
The quarter highlighted the vulnerability of mid- and small-cap stocks during periods of global uncertainty, with Nifty mid and smallcap indices declining over 10% this year. According to The Economic Times, portfolios with higher exposure to these segments saw sharper drawdowns, while those with some allocation to financials or relatively stable businesses managed to limit losses to an extent. The common pattern across all five investors was very few stocks delivering gains, and even those were largely isolated cases, with the majority of holdings across portfolios falling, many by a wider margin than the benchmark indices. Recent economic data shows India's private sector growth hitting a 3-year low as the Middle East war dampened domestic demand, with HSBC's flash India Composite Purchasing Managers' Index slumping to 56.5 in March, well below the median forecast of 59.0.
