A diet that includes five cans of Coca Cola every day, potato chips and weekly meals at McDonald's. No exercise. This is the secret to Warren Buffett's longevity (he is now 94) and 75-year career. 

The famous Oracle of Omaha is retiring with a legacy that is difficult to imitate — whether in terms of his food habits, his success, or in the returns he generated at Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett's timeless quote,“Our favourite holding period is forever”, has inspired generations of investors.  Retail investors look up to superstar investors like Buffett, hoping to figure out their high-return strategies.

But investing strategies vary. Some of these investors stick to Buffett’s mantra of patience. Others move fast, reshuffling their portfolios to ride out the storm. So, how are India’s superstar investors navigating the turbulence of 2025? Who’s holding firm? Who’s making bold moves? And how has their net worth changed in the recent market volatility? 

In this week’s Anlayticks, 

• Portfolio pain: Superstar investors see their net worth take a hit in Q4FY25

• Screener: Promoters decreasing their shareholding QoQ

Market volatility roils superstar investor portfolios in Q4

The last quarter of the financial year ending March 2025 was volatile, with benchmark indices plunging 16%+ from their record highs. Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ rattled markets in April with tariff uncertainty. Even superstar investors haven't been spared, with their portfolios taking a hit.

Major superstar investors see their net worth fall in the March qtr (Q4FY25)

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala & Associates’ public portfolio (now managed by Rare Enterprises), saw a rise in net worth in the March quarter, mainly due to a Rs 14,953 crore fund infusion into a newly listed company, Inventurus Knowledge.

Other top investor portfolios saw their net worth drop. Vijay Kedia took a big hit, with his top holdings, Atul Auto and TAC Infosec, falling 16% and 30% over the past quarter. These two stocks make up over 30% of his public portfolio. The struggle highlights the dangers of a volatile market, that even the best in the business can’t avoid.

Most expert investors sat tight during this period, or cautiously trimmed their stakes. But Ashish Kacholia took a different route, going for an aggressive reshuffle. In Q4FY25, he cut his holdings in 10 companies and added eight new names.

Breaking the trend: Ashish Kacholia snaps up new stocks in a volatile market

Interestingly, this mirrors Mukul Agrawal’s strategy from the previous quarter, when he picked up eight new stocks while cutting his stake in 12 companies. However, Agrawal went into sell mode this quarter, trimming his position in 13 stocks while buying a new stake in just one company. 

New stakes are in recently listed, expensive companies

Some top investors acquired new stakes in 10 companies in Q4, all in the small-cap space. Ashish Kaholia contributed eight of these new additions.

New Buys: Kacholia picks up expensive, newly listed stocks

One sector in particular, is in the spotlight — commercial services & supplies, which features prominently across these portfolio moves.

Two clear patterns stand out from this list. First, seven of the 10 new buys are fresh listings from 2024-25. Second, they come with expensive valuations, as flagged by Trendlyne’s valuation scores.

Superstar investors pick up new stakes in 2024-25 newcomers

Only one of the seven recently listed companies outperformed the Nifty50 in the past quarter, Qualitek Labs. 

Superstar investors sell stakes in underperforming companies

Ten stocks exited superstar portfolios in the past quarter. Barring Ceat, all other companies have underperformed the Nifty50 in the past quarter.

These exits spanned sectors from transportation to banking and finance. The biggest loser was Quick Heal Tech, a software and services firm that Mukul Agrawal chose to offload.

Fundamentally strong stocks feature in superstar investors’ Sell list

Interestingly, even fundamentally strong stocks were cut out, as price underperformance forced superstar investors to exit in Q4.

Among long-term winners for superstars, Vijay Kedia’s Neuland Labs shines 

Neuland Labs, the pharma player, stands out as the best-performing long-term bet for both Vijay Kedia and Mukul Agrawal. However, Kedia has outpaced Agrawal in returns, thanks to his timely entry in 2019 when the stock was trading at lower levels.

Best long-term holdings for superstars: Kedia's Neuland Labs tops the list

Akash Bhanshali’s Gujarat Fluorochemicals (30% of total holding value), on the other hand, has lagged since they bought the stock. However, Bhanshali's net worth has almost tripled in the past two years due to high performance in their other holdings and fresh buys in new stocks.

Screener: Promoters decreasing their shareholding QoQ

Banking & finance stocks see QoQ drop in promoter holdings in Q4FY25

2025 began with heightened volatility across global markets, triggered by President Donald Trump's new import tariffs. As benchmark indices slipped into correction territory, promoters of several Indian companies reduced their holdings. This screener highlights stocks where promoters cut their stakes quarter-on-quarter in Q4 FY25.

The screener is dominated by stocks from the banking & finance, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, FMCG, software & services, and consumer durables sectors. Major stocks that feature in the screener are AWL Agri Business, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, Hitachi Energy, Aditya Birla Fashion, Home First Finance, and Indian Overseas Bank.

JB Chemicals shows up in the screener after its promoter cut their stake by 5.8 percentage points to 47.8% in Q4FY25. Its stock price declined 9.9% over the past quarter. This pharmaceutical company’s promoter, Tau Investment Holdings, sold 89.8 lakh shares (a 5.8% stake) for Rs 1,459.8 crore. A mutual fund, Kotak Emerging Equity Scheme (bought a 1.4% stake), and a foreign institutional investor (FII), Smallcap World Fund, Inc (bought a 1.1% stake), picked up the stake sold by the promoters.

Public sector undertaking (PSU) banks like UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, and Indian Overseas Bank saw a 4.4 percentage points, 3.8 percentage points, and 1.8 percentage points reduction in promoter holding in Q4FY25. The Government plans to reduce its holdings in these banks to below 75%, with an official stating, “This will be done to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) minimum public-shareholding norms. While market conditions will be considered, the government plans to use both the offer for sale (OFS) and qualified institutional placement (QIP) routes." FIIs and mutual funds picked up stakes in UCO Bank and Central Bank of India, while retail investors also picked up stakes in Indian Overseas Bank.

You can find more screeners here.