India's largest institutional investor, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), concluded 2025 with a mixed portfolio performance that reflects the broader market's selective sentiment. According to analysis of 288 stocks in LIC's investment portfolio, 184 stocks representing 64% ended in negative territory, while 104 stocks accounting for 36% delivered positive returns for the year.
Among the declining stocks, 136 experienced double-digit falls ranging between 10% and 90%, highlighting the challenging market conditions faced by a significant portion of LIC's holdings. LIC's own shares also struggled, declining nearly 6% during 2025, reflecting broader market challenges faced by public sector undertakings despite strong operational performance.
The portfolio's biggest laggard was VL E-Governance & IT Solutions, which declined over 90%. Other significant underperformers included Flexituff Ventures International and Vakrangee, falling 80% and 77% respectively. Stocks with declines exceeding 50% included Longview Tea Company, Quadrant Televentures, DCM Shriram Industries, Jai Corp, Industrial Investment Trust, Easy Trip Planners, Siemens, Triveni Glass, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.
Widely tracked stocks also faced significant pressure, with declines between 10% and 45% affecting Reliance Communications, Punjab & Sind Bank, Oracle Financial Services Software, REC, Tata Technologies, Indian Energy Exchange, Adani Total Gas, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, ITC Hotels, Info Edge, Reliance Power, ITC, Power Grid Corporation of India, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Wipro, and Adani Enterprises.
Despite the overall negative tilt, LIC's portfolio produced notable winners, with 77 stocks outperforming the Nifty's approximately 10% return. The portfolio's multibagger performers were Kothari Industrial Corporation with 160% gains and Soma Papers & Industries delivering 119% returns, making them LIC's standout multibagger winners for 2025.
Other strong performers delivering returns exceeding 50% and climbing up to 97% included Poonawalla Fincorp, UPL, Ashok Leyland, Shriram Finance, Laurus Labs, Navin Fluorine International, Tourism Finance Corporation of India, RBL Bank, Aditya Birla Capital, and Hindustan Copper. Well-known stocks such as BSE, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco Industries, National Aluminium Company, Hindustan Zinc, Bharat Electronics, Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, and Tata Consumer Products also outperformed benchmark indices.
Despite the mixed portfolio performance and a nearly 6% decline in its share price during 2025, LIC demonstrated strong operational results. The company's consolidated net profit rose 31% to ₹10,098 crore in the quarter ending September 2025, while revenue increased 5% to ₹2,42,569 crore. The insurer showed consistent growth momentum with profit after tax rising 4% in Q1 and jumping 38% in Q4 FY25.
However, the stock is currently trading below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages, reflecting investor caution towards PSU stocks amid mixed market sentiment, despite the company's robust financial fundamentals.
Market experts express optimism for the upcoming year, expecting improved earnings driven by positive government initiatives including GST rationalization, income tax rebates, and anticipated rate cuts amid benign inflation. Anuj Gupta, Director at Ya Wealth Global Research, expects the Nifty to test targets of 27,000 and potentially end its seven-year losing streak in January.
Technical analysis indicates the index is forming higher top, higher bottom formations with strong support at 24,000 and 21,000 levels. Gupta suggests buying the Nifty on dips around 25,000 to 25,500 with a stop loss of 24,000 and targets of 28,000 to 29,000, projecting the index may test 28,500 to 29,000 levels by end of 2026, creating a more favorable environment for institutional investors like LIC.
