Large-Cap Stocks Where Mutual Funds Increased Their Exposure in August 2026

Mutual funds made some sizeable changes to their large-cap portfolios in August, with fresh buying seen in stocks across insurance, banking and telecom.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the companies that saw notable additions during the month. LIC stood out by a wide margin, with mutual funds adding shares worth more than ₹25,000 crore.

The buying was not limited to a single fund house. Several established names, including ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund, had exposure to these companies.

The numbers offer a look at how mutual fund portfolios changed during August. Here are the three stocks that saw the highest additions among the large-cap names covered.

1. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)

Sector: Financial Services

LIC is India's largest life insurer, with operations spanning individual insurance, group policies and pension products. It is also a major participant in India's equity market through its investment portfolio.

The stock saw the biggest increase in mutual fund holdings during August.

Mutual funds added 60,10,11,816 LIC shares, valued at approximately ₹25,323.65 crore. The number of funds holding the stock increased to 241 during the month.

Total mutual fund holdings jumped from 10,39,90,717 shares in July to 70,50,02,533 shares in August.

Some of the major schemes holding LIC shares were:

2. HDFC Bank Ltd

Sector: Banking

HDFC Bank is one of India's largest private sector banks. Its business covers retail and corporate banking, loans and other financial services.

Mutual funds added 7,82,27,366 shares of HDFC Bank in August. Based on the prevailing value, the purchase was worth approximately ₹5,699.35 crore. The bank was held by 730 mutual funds during the month. Total shares held by mutual funds increased from 3,94,68,17,317 in July to 4,02,50,44,683 in August.

The stock remains a major component of several index and diversified funds.

Among the schemes with sizeable holdings were:

3. Bharti Airtel Ltd

Sector: Telecom

Bharti Airtel operates across mobile services, broadband, digital products and enterprise solutions. It has a large presence in India and also operates in international markets.

Mutual funds added 2,02,19,765 shares of the telecom company during August. The value of the buying was approximately ₹3,827.43 crore.

A total of 685 mutual funds held Bharti Airtel during the month. Their combined holding increased from 74,28,27,271 shares in July to 76,50,47,036 shares in August.

The largest holdings included:

The three stocks represent three different parts of the large-cap market. LIC belongs to insurance, HDFC Bank to banking and Bharti Airtel to telecom. Together, the data shows that mutual fund activity was spread across different sectors rather than concentrated in one theme.

LIC saw by far the largest addition in terms of value, while HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel also recorded sizeable increases in shares held.

It is worth keeping one point in mind when reading monthly portfolio data. Higher mutual fund holdings do not automatically mean that fund managers expect a stock to rise. Portfolio changes can result from several factors, including fresh investments, redemptions, index changes, rebalancing and changes in a fund's allocation.

Therefore, August's buying figures are best viewed as a snapshot of institutional positioning rather than a standalone investment signal. For investors tracking large-cap stocks, the more useful question will be whether these higher holdings are maintained in the coming months and how the companies' earnings and valuations develop.