PPFCF holdings Bajaj Holdings PPFCF holdings PPFAS Mutual Fund Conglomerate discount Value investing Rajeev Thakkar

Bajaj Holdings at PPFCF

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 16 May 2026. Reading time ~12 min.

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Bajaj Holdings and Investment Limited is among the long-running domestic equity anchors of the Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund (PPFCF). The position has appeared in PPFCF factsheets across multiple cycles and is widely cited as one of the textbook expressions of the PPFAS value investing approach to holding-company structures. Bajaj Holdings owns large stakes in Bajaj Auto Limited and Bajaj Finserv Limited (the holding parent of Bajaj Finance and the Bajaj insurance businesses) and trades at a structural discount to the underlying intrinsic value of those stakes.

The investment thesis combines several elements that resonate with the broader PPFAS investment philosophy . First, the conglomerate-discount opportunity: at typical market quotations, Bajaj Holdings trades at a 40 to 60 per cent discount to the sum-of-the-parts value of its listed stakes plus its investment book. Second, diversified financial-sector exposure: through Bajaj Finserv the company indirectly owns one of India’s largest non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and dominant life and general insurance franchises. Third, a steady dividend payout from the underlying operating companies that flows up to Bajaj Holdings.

For PPFAS Mutual Fund , the Bajaj Holdings position is also tax-efficient. Under PPFAS tax-aware portfolio management doctrine, a holding-company structure offers exposure to underlying operating businesses without triggering portfolio-level capital gains each time the operating subsidiaries are rebalanced. The team has historically retained the position through multiple market cycles, consistent with the long-term ownership bias of the fund.

This article documents Bajaj Holdings’ role in PPFCF: the company background, the conglomerate-discount thesis articulated by Rajeev Thakkar , the position history across multiple factsheet cycles, the recent positioning across 2026 factsheets, and the comparison with banking and financial-services peer holdings such as HDFC Bank at PPFCF , ICICI Bank at PPFCF and Kotak Mahindra Bank at PPFCF .

Company background

Bajaj Holdings and Investment Limited was created in May 2008 through the demerger of the erstwhile Bajaj Auto Limited (the listed company that traced its origins to 1945 as Bachraj Trading Corporation and was renamed Bajaj Auto in 1959). The 2008 corporate restructuring split the old Bajaj Auto into three entities: a new Bajaj Auto Limited that retained the two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturing business, Bajaj Finserv Limited that holds the financial-services businesses, and Bajaj Holdings and Investment Limited as the holding-and-investments vehicle.

Bajaj Holdings owns approximately one-third of Bajaj Auto Limited and approximately 41 per cent of Bajaj Finserv Limited (which in turn holds majority stakes in Bajaj Finance Limited, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited). The company also holds an investment portfolio of marketable securities, fixed-income instruments and other strategic holdings. Bajaj Holdings is registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company - Investment and Credit Company (NBFC-ICC) with the Reserve Bank of India.

Bajaj Holdings’ equity shares are listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange . The company is headquartered at Mumbai-Pune Road, Akurdi, Pune. The official corporate website is bajajauto.com (group portal) and group investor information is available through individual subsidiary websites.

The Bajaj group is among India’s oldest industrial houses, founded by Jamnalal Bajaj in 1926. The current chairman of Bajaj Auto Limited is Niraj Bajaj. Rahul Bajaj, who led the group for several decades, served as chairman of the Bajaj group until his passing in 2022.

Investment thesis at PPFCF

The PPFAS thesis on Bajaj Holdings has been articulated across multiple monthly factsheets and Annual Unitholders’ Meet discussions. The argument rests on several pillars.

First, the conglomerate or holding-company discount. Indian holding companies typically trade at 40 to 70 per cent discounts to their underlying net asset value. Bajaj Holdings has historically traded at a discount in the upper half of that range. For a value-oriented fund anchored in PPFAS margin of safety discipline, this discount provides a quantitative buffer between the market price and the intrinsic value derived from the underlying stakes.

Second, indirect exposure to two high-quality compounders. Bajaj Auto is the world’s largest manufacturer of three-wheelers and among the top global producers of motorcycles, with strong export franchises in Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Bajaj Finance is among India’s largest NBFCs with one of the most cited consumer-finance franchises. Owning Bajaj Holdings is, in effect, a way of owning these businesses at a holding-company discount.

Third, the insurance optionality. Bajaj Allianz Life and Bajaj Allianz General are among the largest private-sector insurers in India. The expected eventual public listing of these entities, or further restructuring of the Bajaj group, could narrow the holding-company discount.

Fourth, PPFAS contrarian investing and patience. The holding-company discount can persist for years without an obvious near-term catalyst. PPFCF’s long-horizon orientation allows it to hold positions through these phases, collecting dividend yield while waiting for either re-rating or corporate-action catalysts.

Fifth, PPFAS focused portfolio discipline. Bajaj Holdings meets the team’s quality bar through its underlying operating companies. The diversification across two-wheelers, three-wheelers, financing, life insurance and general insurance offers a balanced exposure that few single-stock holdings can match.

Position history

Bajaj Holdings has been a recurring presence in PPFCF disclosures across multiple years. The position has been mentioned in PPFCF factsheet portfolio listings as one of the recurring Indian holdings, alongside ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies, Persistent Systems, Cipla, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IPCA Laboratories and ICRA.

Through the 2018 to 2021 window, when PPFCF was expanding its domestic sleeve, Bajaj Holdings sat among the larger non-banking financial positions in the portfolio. The February 2022 SEBI MF overseas investment cap freeze created a structural pivot in which incremental inflows had to be deployed domestically. The fund team allocated to high-conviction Indian holdings, with Bajaj Holdings continuing among the recurring positions, though the precise rank fluctuated month-on-month.

By 2025 and into 2026, PPFCF AUM had grown materially. AUM crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in May 2025, making PPFCF the first active equity mutual fund scheme in India to do so. AUM reached Rs 1,40,949 crore in April 2026 and approximately Rs 1.6 lakh crore by 15 May 2026. Within this larger portfolio, Bajaj Holdings continued as a long-running anchor though it was not in the top three (which by April 2026 was HDFC Bank at PPFCF at 7.94 per cent, Power Grid Corporation at PPFCF at 6.99 per cent and Coal India at PPFCF at 5.95 per cent).

Recent positioning

The April 2026 factsheet, with PPFCF AUM at Rs 1,40,949 crore (up 9.29 per cent month-on-month), showed the financial-services and PSU complex dominating the top three. Bajaj Holdings continued as a recurring top-ten or near-top-ten domestic position, with the team valuing the holding-company discount and the continued cash-generation profile of the underlying Bajaj operating companies.

In monthly factsheet commentary, Rajeev Thakkar and Neil Parag Parikh have continued to reference the value embedded in holding-company structures. The May 2026 commentary on PPFCF carrying around 18 to 22 per cent in PPFAS cash holdings reflected broader valuation caution, but the Bajaj Holdings position has remained one of the long-running anchor positions of the domestic sleeve.

Comparison with peer holdings

Within PPFCF’s financial-services sleeve, Bajaj Holdings sits alongside HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and (historically) Sundaram Finance. The Bajaj Holdings position is distinctive because it provides indirect exposure to financial-services franchises (Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Allianz) plus operating-company exposure (Bajaj Auto) through a single security at a structural holding-company discount.

Compared with HDFC Bank, the largest private-sector bank, Bajaj Holdings offers diversified exposure rather than concentrated banking exposure. Compared with ICICI Bank, the Bajaj Holdings structure delivers an embedded discount that pure bank holdings do not. Compared with Kotak Mahindra Bank, the Bajaj position trades at a different valuation profile and offers different underlying economics through its NBFC and insurance subsidiaries.

Within the broader PPFAS focused portfolio , Bajaj Holdings is grouped with ITC at PPFCF , Maruti Suzuki at PPFCF , Mahindra and Mahindra at PPFCF and other long-running Indian anchors that the team has held through multiple cycles. Together with international anchors Alphabet at PPFCF , Microsoft at PPFCF , Amazon at PPFCF and Meta Platforms at PPFCF , Bajaj Holdings rounds out a balanced top-tier portfolio that combines global compounders with domestic value.

Context within PPFCF

PPFCF was launched on 24 May 2013 as Parag Parikh Long Term Value Fund (PPLTVF), renamed Parag Parikh Long Term Equity Fund on 16 February 2018 and renamed Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund on 13 January 2021. The scheme is benchmarked against the Nifty 500 TRI and has delivered a compound annual growth rate since inception of approximately 19.06 per cent against a category average of 15.22 per cent and the Nifty 500 TRI at 12.4 per cent. AUM crossed Rs 1 lakh crore in May 2025, making PPFCF the first active equity mutual fund scheme in India to do so, and rose to roughly Rs 1.6 lakh crore by 15 May 2026.

The fund is managed by Rajeev Thakkar along with Raunak Onkar , Raj Mehta , Rukun Tarachandani and other team members. Parag Parikh , the founder of the Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Limited sponsor entity, established the investing house in 1979 and incorporated PPFAS Ltd in December 1992. The mutual fund was set up with SEBI on 10 October 2012 under registration ID MF/069/12/01.

Bajaj Holdings’ role in PPFCF has been a recurring topic at the PPFAS Annual Unitholders Meet , the Indian mutual fund industry’s nearest analogue to the Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting. The 12th edition was held on 22 November 2025 at Birla Matushree Sabhaghar in Mumbai.

External references

Bajaj Auto group corporate site: bajajauto.com
Bajaj Finserv: bajajfinserv.in
Bajaj Finance: bajajfinserv.in/finance
PPFAS AMC factsheet archive: amc.ppfas.com/downloads/factsheet
PPFAS scheme page (PPFCF): amc.ppfas.com/schemes/parag-parikh-flexi-cap-fund
SEBI: www.sebi.gov.in
AMFI member page: amfiindia.com/member/64

References

PPFAS Mutual Fund, October 2025 factsheet, amc.ppfas.com .
PPFAS Mutual Fund, March 2026 factsheet, amc.ppfas.com .
INDmoney, “PPFAS Flexi Cap April 2026 portfolio update,” indmoney.com .
Angel One, “Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund crosses one lakh crore AUM,” angelone.in .
Business Today, May 2026 cash commentary, businesstoday.in .
Bajaj Holdings and Investment Limited, Annual Report 2024-25.
Bajaj Auto Limited corporate page, bajajauto.com .

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Last reviewed: 16 May 2026
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