SNB hikes exposure to Indian companies

 IT giant Infosys and auto major Tata Motors have joined an elite league of global behemoths like Apple, Microsoft and ExxonMobil, in which Switzerland’s central bank SNB has hiked its exposure.

Swiss National Bank, which is among the largest central bank investors in equities globally, has also retained its investments in four other Indian companies — ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Vedanta  and Wipro.

Ironically, SNB’s enhanced exposure to the Indian companies during the last quarter, ended June 30, coincided with a loss of about 10 per cent in its nearly $60-million portfolio of Indian companies.

All these investments were made during the first quarter of 2015 through their American Depository Receipts, listed on the US exchanges NYSE and Nasdaq, while SNB acquired more equity in case of Infosys and Tata Motors in second quarter.
Raised its stake

Among American companies, SNB raised its stake in giants like Apple, ExxonMobil and Microsoft, which also happen to be its three biggest investments in the US.

As per the latest regulatory filing of SNB with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it held shares in more than 2,500 US-listed securities, valued at close to $38.6 billion at the end of second quarter of 2015. This marked an increase of about $1 billion from the levels seen at the end of the first quarter. In comparison, the total value of investments in six Indian companies fell by nearly $6 million to $54.6 million.