EPFO has invested Rs 1.88 lakh crore in ETFs in last five years: data
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has invested Rs 1.88 lakh crore in exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the last five fiscal years, starting from 2018-19, shows the official data. This is 8.7% of the total invested corpus of Rs 18.30 lakh crore till March 31, 2023 with the remaining 91.3% invested in debt instruments, minister of state for labour and employment Rameswar Teli said in response to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. While the ETF investments in 2018-19 stood at Rs 27,974 crore, investments in 2019-20 stood at Rs 31,501 crore, Rs 32,071 crore in 2020-21, Rs 43,568 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 53,081 crore in 2022-23.
The retirement fund body has in the current fiscal year invested Rs 13,017 crore in ETFs till July 2023, shows the data. Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) invests funds as per the investment pattern notified by the government. While the investment pattern allows up to 15% investments in equity, the government is adopting a cautious approach in investments in the stock market.
According to the response, EPFO does not invest directly in individual stocks including stocks of any blue chip company. “EPFO invests in equity markets through ETFs replicating BSE-SENSEX and NIFTY-50 indices,” the minister said. “EPFO has also invested from time-to-time in ETFs constructed specifically for disinvestment of shareholding of the government in body corporates,” the minister added.
The retirement fund body may seek government approval for investing the proceeds from ETFs in any permissible asset class to maximise returns. The central board of trustees of EPFO approved the proposal in its last meeting in March this year. EPFO began investing in equities through ETFs in 2015-16 with a 5% exposure
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