Politicians and investments: How diversified are their portfolios?

SUMMARY

India is currently undergoing Lok Sabha elections to determine the government that will be at the helm of the country for the next five years. While the political skills of the party leaders have been on full display, leading up to the elections, here is a look at the investing skills of eight prominent leaders contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

By Moneycontrol NewsApr 24, 2019 10:53:01 AM IST (Published)

Nakul Nath | Congress | Net Worth: Rs 656.84 crore | Assets: Rs 657.7 crore | Liabilities: Rs 86.22 lakh The son of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath has one of the bulkiest portfolios in the list. Nath is a beneficiary in a trust that owns shares in various companies. Hence, the allocation of assets in equity is very high. He keeps cash in hand at a low 1.4 percent while real estate stands at a respectable 6.3 percent of the portfolio.

Hema Malini | BJP | Net worth: Rs 108.59 crore | Assets: Rs114.34 crore | Liabilities: Rs 5.75 crore Real estate forms a major portion of the actor-turned-politician's portfolio, with Rs 101.11 crore of the Rs 114.34 crore assets allotted in the sector. The dream girl of Indian cinema doesn't believe much in stock market trading as only 0.2 percent of her investments is deployed in equity at Rs 26.39 lakh. Another alarming aspect of her portfolio is a low investment in debt. Only 0.7 percent of her assets is allocated to it. This figure should be higher given her deteriorating age.

Baijayant Panda | BJP | Net worth: Rs 47.70 crore | Assets: Rs 47.76 crore | Liabilities: Rs 6 lakh The veteran politician from Odisha has one of the most diverse portfolios in the list, with high priority given to equity. Panda has 56.8 percent exposure to equity, with a mix of 11 stocks and nine mutual funds. The debt allocation is high too, with the entire debt of Rs 6.79 crore (14.2 percent of the portfolio) invested in fixed deposits. Real estate gets a healthy allocation of 26.2 percent at Rs 14.47 crore while liquidity was desirably low at 0.6 percent or Rs 28.91 lakh.

Shashi Tharoor | Congress | Net worth: Rs 35 crore | Assets: Rs 35 crore | Liabilities: NIL The Congressman from Kerala, known for his linguistic flair, has a similar flair for liquidity as a large portion of his assets is held in cash at 15.8 percent. Tharoor holds faith in the Indian stock market as 36.8 percent of his portfolio is invested in mutual funds. However, the exposure of his portfolio is low towards debt and real estate as those only accounts for a mere 8.1 percent and 2.8 percent of his total assets respectively. Tharoor's debt exposure comes largely in the form of fixed deposits and bonds.

Jayaprada Nahata | BJP | Net Worth: Rs 26.21 crore | Assets: Rs 27.92 crore | Liabilities: Rs 1.7 crore Nahata's portfolio shows bias towards real estate as 67 percent of her total assets is stashed in the sector. Equity forms 3.1 percent of the portfolio, with the entire exposure coming from stocks. Her debt exposure is extremely low at 0.1 percent while liquidity is also low at 2.1 percent.

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi | DMK | Net Worth: Rs 28.15 crore | Assets: Rs 30.08 crore | Liabilities: Rs 1.92 crore The daughter of renowned politician and former Tamil Nadu CM M. Karunanidhi, Kanimozhi has one of the most lopsided portfolios with a high 50.8 percent debt exposure. More than Rs 15 crore of her assets are locked up only in fixed deposits. Real estate formed the second-biggest part of her portfolio with 29.6 percent investment in the sector. However, her portfolio has low equity exposure, at just 6.8 percent, all in the form of stocks. Her cash holding was slightly higher at Rs 1.18 crore, which forms 3.8 percent of her portfolio.

Rahul Gandhi | Congress | Net worth: Rs 15.16 crore | Assets: Rs 15.88 crore | Liabilities: Rs 72.01 lakh The president of the Indian National Congress prefers real estate and equity endowment as 96.4 percent of his investments are done in these sectors. Real estate makes up close to 63.4 percent of his portfolio at Rs 10.08 crore while equity forms 33 percent, with a large portion invested in mutual funds. Gandhi's portfolio shows prudence as he holds only 0.7 percent of his money in cash at Rs 11.33 lakh. Gold forms a minuscule 0.1 percent of the portfolio at Rs 2.91 lakh. This indicates that most of his money is allocated to wealth maximisation. Another interesting takeaway from his portfolio is that a major portion of his debt, at Rs 39.8 lakh, is being held in the PPF account.

Mehbooba Mufti | J&K PDP | Net worth: Rs 88.13 lakh | Assets: Rs 88.13 lakh | Liabilities: NIL The former CM of Jammu and Kashmir has one of the most basic portfolios on the list. Nearly 62.4 percent of her assets are invested in real estate and the rest is held in cash. Her portfolio has no exposure to either debt or equity, and the high liquidity indicates apathy towards wealth maximisation.