

War-led correction dents marquee investors’ portfolios as markets slide
The flare-up in West Asia is rippling through Dalal Street, denting the portfolios of several marquee investors and triggering a correction in Indian equities. A Mint analysis of shareholding data from Primeinfobase shows the value of holdings of many prominent investors declined sharply between 31 December 2025 and 13 March 2026, as tensions involving the US, Israel and Iran unsettled global markets and pushed crude oil prices higher.The correction has been visible across the broader market as well.
Since 27 February, when tensions in the Middle East escalated, the Sensex and Nifty have fallen more than 8%, reflecting rising global risk aversion and persistent foreign portfolio investor (FPI) selling.The weakness has been widespread. During the same period, the BSE LargeCap and MidCap indices declined nearly 8% each, while the BSE SmallCap index slipped about 7%, signalling that the sell-off extended beyond frontline stocks.Against this backdrop, the portfolios of several well-known investors have seen significant erosion.
The analysis tracks investors holding more than a 1% stake in listed companies with portfolio values exceeding ₹1,000 crore.Hemendra Kothari’s portfolio recorded the steepest decline among those analysed, falling more than 22% between the end of December and mid-March to about ₹4,697 crore. Madhusudan Kela’s holdings dropped 21.8% to around ₹1,629 crore.
Meanwhile, the portfolios of Ashish Dhawan and Paresh Parekh declined by 20.8% each to roughly ₹1,758 crore and ₹932 crore.Some holdings of Hemendra Kothari, Madhusudan Kela and Ashish Dhawan are exposed to crude-linked pressures. Kothari holds a 62.3% stake in Alkyl Amines Chemicals, which depends on petrochemical feedstocks.
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