FPIs Sell 60% of IPO Anchor Shares Within a Year, Well Ahead of MFs: SEBI

SEBI Study examines FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) who apply in Mainboard IPOs usually exit their anchor investments more quickly than Mutual Funds (MFs).

SEBI has released a study on the exit behaviour of anchor investors. For 242 mainboard IPOs listed between April 2022 and October 2025, the study showed that FPIs sold about 60% of their shares within one year of investment, compared with Mutual Funds, which sold only 38%.

FPIs have invested ₹37,491 crore in shares and sold ₹22,474 crore (60%). MFs invested ₹31,529 crore in shares and sold ₹12,228 crore worth (38%)

FPIs Sell 60% of IPO Anchor Shares Within a Year

Why FPIs are selling faster to MFs

One day, SEBI decided to check how many days anchor investors held their investment after receiving allotment in IPOs.

SEBI wanted to examine how soon investors started selling their holdings after receiving the shares on Day 0. It tracked their holdings on Day 6, Day 29, Day 33, Day 60, Day 93, Day 180, and Day 365 after the allotment.

The study showed that, after the first unlock, the selling was very low, with 3.2% of shares sold. Soon, by 60 days, it increased to 8%; at 90 days, it reached 17.3%; by 180 days, it reached 34%; and finally, after 1 year (365 days), the investors sold 51% of their shares.

The second study was done on 167 IPOs listed through the end of 2024, which resulted in:

After 30 days: about 4 shares had been sold
After 60 days: about 9 shares had been sold
After 90 days: about 19 shares had been sold
After 180 days: about 34 shares had been sold
After 365 days (1 year): about 51 shares had been sold

Jagat Joshi

Founder of IPOWatch, brings nearly 15 years of experience in IPO analysis and market research. He provides complete coverage of upcoming IPOs, subscription trends, grey market premiums (GMP), and post-listing performance, along with easy-to-understand reviews, insights, and analysis. In his working journey, he has worked with various platforms and received expertise in stock market analysis and primary markets.