EPFO Update: In response to queries in Parliament, the government recently shared details of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) investment patterns over the last few years.
Lok Sabha member T. Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian inquired whether EPFO has made significant investments in debt instruments and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and if so, requested details.
Investments in debt and ETFs
Responding to it, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, said that EPFO’s investments are made in line with the pattern of investment notified by the Ministry of Finance and the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPF.
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EPFO invests in both debt securities and ETFs as per the prescribed pattern, as informed by the government. The organisation began investing in ETFs in August 2015 following approval during the 207th CBT meeting held on March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2024, the total corpus managed by EPFO stood at Rs 24.75 lakh crore, with Rs 22,40,922.30 crore invested in debt instruments and Rs 2,34,921.49 crore in ETFs.
The government also shared details of investment in share market and related products by EPFO over the past seven years and in the current financial year.
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Here is the year-wise breakdown of EPFO’s ETF investments:
2017-18: Rs 22,765.99 crore
2018-19: Rs 27,974.25 crore
2019-20: Rs 31,501.11 crore
2020-21: Rs 32,070.84 crore
2021-22: Rs 43,568.08 crore
2022-23: Rs 53,081.26 crore
2023-24: Rs 57,184.24 crore
2024-25 (up to October): Rs 34,207.93 crore
Year-wise investment in ETFs
The data revealed EPFO’s consistent ETF investments over the years, replicating indices like BSE-SENSEX and NSE NIFTY-50. Additionally, EPFO has invested in specific ETFs tracking Bharat 22 and CPSE indices for government disinvestment purposes.
No direct investments in equity shares
The government clarified that EPFO does not directly invest in individual stocks,
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