Anchor investors offload 50% of their initial public offering (IPO) holdings 30 days after the completion of 12 months from the date of listing, according to a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) report.

Market regulator SEBI analysed data of 242 mainboard IPOs listed during April 2022 to October 2025, in its paper titled “Study on Exit Behaviour of Anchor Investors in Mainboard IPOs,” authored by Laltu Pore and Pampana Hari Nayak Akshay, officers in the Department of Economic and Policy Analysis (DEPA).

The exit at initial stages after the listing date is just about 3.2%, but this gradually increases as the lock-in period expires, going up till 50%, 30 days after the one year has passed since the listing day.

“First exit was approximately 3% for both categories, rising to (about) 8% at 60 days. At the 90-day mark, issues made under Regulation 6(1) recorded an exit of approximately 18.5% while those made under Regulation 6(2) showed approximately 15.3%, suggesting marginally lower cumulative exit in the latter,” the authors said.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) constituted the largest share of nearly 44% in anchor allotment, followed by mutual funds with 39%. The former however contributes the most of the exits.

“Mutual Funds were notably more conservative than FPIs. Post the first lock-in expiry,104 IPOs showed zero MF exit (among the highest zero-exit counts) and 83 IPOs were in the range of >0–25% bucket. Even by the 90-day stage, MF exit remained more restrained: 41 zero-exit IPOs, 111 in >0–25%, 31 in >25–50%, and only 6 in >50–99%, with no 100% exit instances. This indicates MFs are more patient holders of their anchor allocations,” the authors observed.

The report assumes significance in light of the Chief Economic Adviser’s observation that IPOs were increasingly becoming exit routes. While his comments were directed at early-stage investors, a similar trend can be seen among anchor investors, many of whom show strong enthusiasm for IPOs but gradually exited once the lock-in period ends. Consequently, several much-hyped IPO stocks trade below their offer prices within a year of listing, while some never recover to their initial offering levels.

FPIs dominated in absolute exit value across all three stages, contributing about ₹1,750crore at first exit (about 3% of anchor allotment to FPIs), ₹4,800 crore (about 9%) at 60-day mark, and ₹10,400 crore(about 20%) at second exit. “This confirms FPIs not only exit a higher percentage of their anchor holdings, but also generate the largest quantum of secondary market supply by a wide margin, given their larger allotment base,” the report said.

MFs were the second largest source by value: about ₹1,300 crore at first exit (about 3% of anchor allotment to MFs), ₹3,200 crore (about 7%) at exit-60 day, and ₹6,800 crore (about 15%) at second exit. While MF exit intensity (%) is lower than FPIs, their large allotment base “still translates into significant absolute supply”, it said.

Published - August 13, 2026 09:52 pm IST