Labour Ministry is in favour of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) increasing its investments in the stock markets through Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has said that “We see the possibility of it increasing, but we want to discuss it with the Central Board of Trustees (CBT). I believe the investment in ETFs should rise.”
A meeting of EPFO’s apex decision making body, CBT headed by the Labour Minister is scheduled on July 8, where the issue of increasing investments in ETFs is expected to be taken up. Dattatreya however reiterated that the government will take the issue of investments in the stock markets “step by step” and maintain a “cautious approach”. The issue will also be discussed with the CBT.
In August last year, the EPFO had started investing 5 per cent of its investible deposits in ETFs and as it started giving good returns, there is a move to increase the proportion of such investments this fiscal. As per the Finance Ministry investment pattern, the investment can go up to 15 per cent. As on April 30, 2016 the amount invested was Rs 6,674 crore and this gave a return of Rs 6,786 crore, which is up by 1.68 per cent.