'That era is over': Jefferies’ Chris Wood bets on India’s future winners beyond IT and banks

Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies and author of the influential Greed & Fear report, says India’s stock market story is moving beyond its old pillars of IT services and banks. “That era is over,” he told BT TV.

Wood, who manages a concentrated 20–25 stock portfolio, argued that the bigger challenge for investors is deciding “what not to own.” While IT services and software firms conceptually make sense for long-term portfolios, he flagged two risks: tariffs and AI disruption.

“For some Asian countries, 50% tariffs would be a total disaster,” he said, adding that global software faces structural risks from artificial intelligence. The Nifty IT index has struggled over the past year, down about 15% amid weak US demand and sluggish deal flows, though it has rebounded 4–5% in the past month following the US Fed’s rate cut.

Wood has long maintained a core position in Indian banks, but this year he has tilted more towards financial companies geared to lower rates and rising consumption. He also highlighted several ongoing investment themes:

• Infrastructure plays: Airports and cement, the latter boosted by industry consolidation.
• Travel & Tourism: Both outbound and inbound demand remain attractive.
• Healthcare: Hospitals offer long-term growth, though he has avoided them in his concentrated portfolio.
• Defence: A sector he expects to see “more focus on” as India ramps up domestic capabilities.

“The whole cement sector is getting interesting, the hospital story remains strong, and defense will continue to grow,” Wood noted, underlining India’s diversification beyond its old IT-bank duopoly.