India’s second-largest money manager is bullish on banks, oil refiners, power utilities and drugmakers, betting they are best placed to benefit from demand tailwinds despite a volatile global backdrop.Attractive valuations for lenders, along with rising demand for power infrastructure and healthcare, make the sectors compelling investment opportunities, according to Sankaran Naren, chief investment officer of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co., which has about 11.8 trillion rupees ($123 billion) in assets, with equities making up over two-thirds of the total. “Banking remains one of the most attractive sectors in India,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.132754219The remarks from Naren, one of India’s longest-serving fund managers who popularised contra and value investing in the country, come as corporate earnings show signs of recovery.
Materials, utilities and financial services have led the turnaround, with more than half of the 34 NSE Nifty 50 companies that have reported June-quarter results beating profit estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show.The improving earnings outlook has helped put the benchmark Nifty on track for a second month of gains.
The advance has also been assisted by a revival in foreign inflows and a recovery in the nation’s beaten-down software stocks as investors rotate out of chip shares elsewhere in Asia.
