Capital Group Shifts Investments: More Adani, Less Reliance

The Capital Group, one of the world’s largest investment management firms, has been increasing its exposure to Adani Group companies while steadily paring holdings in Reliance Industries Ltd., marking a shift in foreign investor preference between India’s biggest conglomerates.

The Los Angeles-based money manager has acquired stakes worth more than $2 billion across three Adani Group companies in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. On May 5, Capital Group bought nearly a 2% stake in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. for 74.86 billion rupees ($776 million) through open-market transactions, according to BSE block-deal data.

The investor, which oversees more than $3.3 trillion in assets globally, has also accumulated between 1.5% and 2% stakes in Adani Power Ltd. and Adani Green Energy Ltd. through market purchases, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

In a market that’s fallen out of favor with some investors because of its lack of companies tied to the global artificial intelligence buildout, Adani companies are increasingly viewed as rare leveraged plays on India’s infrastructure development, energy transition and manufacturing push. That shift is also emblematic of a broader transition toward bets on the next phase of India’s economic expansion.

Adani Power, Adani Green and Adani Ports shares surged 94%, 35% and 25%, respectively, in one year.

A Capital Group spokeswoman said she’s unable to comment on individual stocks or shareholdings. A representative for Adani Group didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The pivot toward Adani stocks in particular signals a recovery in investor confidence after months of regulatory scrutiny and market volatility. The group was able to remove a major overhang when the US Justice Department recently sought to drop criminal charges against Gautam Adani, bringing the billionaire founder closer to resolving a legal risk that had once threatened the future of his sprawling ports-to-power empire.

On the other side of the ledger, Capital Group’s exposure to Reliance has declined sharply over the past several years. The firm held about 142 million shares in Reliance Industries at the end of March, compared with about 500 million six years earlier and a peak of 755 million in March 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While Reliance remains one of the country’s most widely held and closely tracked companies among global funds, its earnings growth and stock performance have moderated after years of rapid expansion across telecommunications, retail and energy. Reliance Industries shares have declined 8.36% over one year.