HDFC Defence Fund increases stake in HAL, Solar Industries, and 4 other stocks in April

HDFC Defence Fund, the only active fund focused on the defence sector, increased its stake in six stocks in April, including Hindustan Aeronautics, Solar Industries, BEML, MTAR Technologies, Astra Microwave Products, and Centum Electronics.

The fund added around 1.29 lakh shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), taking the total holdings to 24.87 lakh shares in April, up from 23.58 lakh in March. It also added 90,393 shares of BEML, bringing the total to 16.14 lakh shares, compared to 15.24 lakh in March.

Holdings in Astra Microwave Products increased from 35.96 lakh shares in March to 36.66 lakh in April. The fund further added 37,423 shares of Solar Industries, 17,012 shares of MTAR Technologies, and 1,877 shares of Centum Electronics.

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The fund’s exposure to 16 stocks remained unchanged during the month. These included Adani Energy Solutions, Avalon Technologies, Diffusion Engineers, InterGlobe Aviation, Larsen & Toubro, Rishabh Instruments, Premier Explosives, and Power Mech Projects.

No new stock was added, nor was there a complete exit from any existing holdings during this period.

As of April 30, 2025, the fund held 22 stocks in its portfolio, with total assets under management (AUM) recorded at Rs 5,487 crore.

Managed by Abhishek Poddar, the scheme is benchmarked against the Nifty India Defence - TRI index. Its investment objective is to generate long-term capital appreciation by predominantly investing in equity and equity-related securities of defence and allied sector companies.

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Launched on June 2, 2023, the scheme currently allocates 46.14% to large-cap, 14.52% to mid-cap, 34.6% to small-cap, and 4.74% to other categories.

The fund is diversified across seven sectors, with 65.25% in capital goods, 17.29% in chemicals, 5.91% in infrastructure, 2.92% in electricals, 2.54% in aviation, 0.80% in power, and 0.55% in iron & steel.