Archive · 31 Jul 2026
Bernstein: DIIs outpace FIIs, highlights under‑owned sector opportunities
Bernstein, a brokerage firm, looked at who owns shares in Indian companies.
They found that domestic investors (DIIs) own more shares than foreign investors (FIIs).
Retail investors still own the most shares in small companies.
The report says that when many investors buy a stock, it often does not do as well.
Stocks that few investors own can give better returns.
Bernstein also suggests buying stocks in certain sectors and selling others to make money.
Their past strategy has earned about 3% more each year than the overall market.
DIIs now own 18% of BSE 500, surpassing FIIs at 16.3%.
Retail investors hold 14.1% of small‑cap stocks, the largest share among investor classes.
Historically, stocks with rising institutional ownership underperformed, while under‑owned stocks delivered 0.9–3.5% annual alpha.
Bernstein’s long‑short rotation strategy targets the three least crowded sectors (Consumer Discretionary Services, Forestry/Paper, Energy, Utilities) and shorts the most crowded (Institutional Financial Services, Media, Industrial Services, Chemicals).
The strategy has yielded 3.3% annualised returns since 2009, outperforming the broader market.
- Who
- Domestic institutional investors, foreign institutional investors, retail investors, Bernstein brokerage
- What
- Analysis of ownership trends and sector rotation strategy in the Indian equity market
- When
- End of June 2026
- Where
- Indian equity market, BSE 500
- Why
- To identify under‑owned opportunities and avoid crowded trades
- DIIs ownership of BSE 500
- 18.0%
- FIIs ownership of BSE 500
- 16.3%
- Retail small‑cap ownership
- 14.1%
- Under‑owned stocks alpha
- 0.9–3.5% per annum
- Long‑short strategy return
- 3.3% annualised