While they still trade at premium valuations, they have not created wealth for shareholders. The fact is an age-old theory that just having a MNC stock in your portfolio is an assurance of growth and return no longer holds true. There was a time when having MNC stock, irrespective of the sector it was from, was a must have in one's portfolio. The reason: liberal at giving bonuses, dividend payments were good and given the fact some of them actually owned the best of the brands which had seen a secular growth due to which they were also able to deliver decent returns to shareholders. But after the IT bull of 2000, as a new set of Indian companies took the centerstage, a number of MNCs stocks lost their shine at least on the street. In the last few years, a number of pharma companies have been putting their house in order, either due to global merger and selling a part of Indian business to focus more on core products.
