Even as a historic wave of foreign selling has restructured ownership across the broader market, a clutch of large-cap names including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel and GMR Airports Infrastructure remain dangerously exposed. In these stocks, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) still dominate the shareholder register while domestic institutions have largely refused to step in, leaving them acutely vulnerable if outflows intensify.Jefferies has identified at least 15 stocks where the foreign-to-domestic institutional shareholding ratio remains above 1.5 times as of March 2026, with no meaningful reduction in that gap over the prior 12 months.Since September 2024, when the equity market has been stuck in a broad consolidation range, FIIs have pulled out around $53 billion from Indian stocks with FY26 having recorded the highest-ever annual outflows at $21 billion.That selling has dragged MSCI India down roughly 8% since September 2024, resulting in a 67 percentage point underperformance versus MSCI Emerging Markets in US dollar terms.India’s 15 most vulnerable stocksJefferies' red-flag list comprises: GMR Airports Infrastructure, Torrent Pharma, JSW Steel, HDFC AMC, Eicher Motors, Marico, Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco Industries, Adani Enterprises, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and ICICI Bank.GMR Airports carries the most extreme imbalance, with a FII/DII ratio of 4.4 times. Foreign investors hold 20% of the company against just 5% for domestic institutions, a gap that has not budged over the past year. Torrent Pharma's ratio stands at a stable 2.5 times, with 16% FPI against 6% DII. The situation is arguably deteriorating in financials: HDFC AMC's ratio has actually climbed from 1.3 times to 2.1 times over the year, while HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank all remain above or near the threshold.Jefferies has largely neutral or cautious recommendations across this cluster. "Among these stocks where our analysts have a HOLD/UPF rating are DMart, Hero, Hindalco and Wipro," the report notes.Also Read | Is your portfolio FII-proof? 7 stocks Jefferies says can defy the $53 billion foreign selloffWhy domestic institutions haven't stepped inThe broader market story is one of dramatic ownership transfer. FII holdings in BSE 500 companies have fallen roughly 1.3 percentage points since September 2024, to a decade low of 18.3% as of March 2026. DII holdings, meanwhile, have climbed to a record 18.6% as domestic institutions have overtaken foreign investors at the aggregate level, backed by approximately $147 billion of cumulative net buying since the sell-off began.Prime Database captures the longer arc: FII ownership has fallen to a 14-year low of 16.13% as of March 31, 2026, from 16.60% at end-December 2025. The gap between FII and mutual fund shareholding has narrowed by 83 basis points in a single quarter to just 4.67 percentage points, a gap that stood at 17.14 percentage points at its peak in March 2015. According to Prithvi Haldea of Prime Database, "the balance of ownership continues to tilt inward, reinforcing the market's growing atmanirbharta (self-reliance), with MFs alone set to overtake FIIs in the coming quarters."Jefferies expects domestic institutions to continue deploying around $65 billion a year. "The opposite end of the FII flows continues to be held up by the DIIs," the firm writes.But that domestication has been uneven. In the 15 vulnerable stocks, DII holdings have been flat or barely risen, leaving these names more exposed than peers where local institutions now dominate.Also Read | Crude@$100+: The Rs 3 lakh crore power boom you might be missingWhat's keeping foreign money awayGoldman Sachs has cautioned that even if the bulk of foreign selling is behind us, re-buying may be impeded in the near term. The bank notes that empirical evidence suggests FII flows do not immediately return when oil prices fall, pointing out that foreign capital did not return to Indian equities during the early-April oil price correction, despite a significant sell-off during the preceding rally in March.Jefferies frames the structural problem in valuation terms. MSCI India still trades at a 70% price-to-earnings premium to MSCI EM, modestly above its 10-year average premium of 62%, despite its recent underperformance. Meanwhile, the competition for global capital has sharpened dramatically. Consensus earnings for Taiwan and Korea's AI and memory chip giants — TSMC, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for roughly 24% of MSCI EM — have been upgraded by 250% for calendar 2026 over the past eight months. "Unless AI capex intensity slows down, this EPS growth differential will continue to weigh against India," Jefferies cautions.Jefferies' analysis of 70 large EM funds with a combined $320 billion in assets shows India is now modestly underweight at around 0.4 percentage points below benchmark, against a 10-year average overweight of 2.2 percentage points. A majority 61% of these funds are now underweight India relative to their benchmarks.Which stocks are desi boys chasing?Not all large-caps have been left exposed as there are at least 16 stocks where the FII/DII ratio has dropped below 1, signalling that ownership has decisively shifted toward domestic institutions. Out of 92 stocks with a market capitalisation above $10 billion in Jefferies’ India coverage, FII holdings have declined in 61 between March 2025 and March 2026. In 16 of these, a decisive crossover has occurred.Among those the firm rates Buy are Eternal, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, Siemens, JSW Energy, Mankind Pharma and IndiGo. In Eternal, FII holdings have dropped from 44% to 33% over the year while DII ownership has risen from 22% to 34%, pulling the ratio to 1 times. At Kotak Mahindra Bank, DIIs now hold 34% against 26% for foreign investors, giving a ratio of 0.8 times. "Stocks where the FII/DII ratio has declined indicate that rising DII dominance should face relatively lower incremental pressure from FII selling," Jefferies said.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)