Union Government allowed EPFO to invest 5 percent of its corpus in stock market

Union Government on 24 April 2015 allowed Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to invest five percent of its corpus in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The decision will result into an inflow of around five thousand crore rupees into the stock markets during fiscal 2015-16.

Union Labour Ministry has notified the new investment pattern for the EPFO, which allows the body to invest 5 per cent of its funds into ETFs.

The investment will begin by one percent and go up to five percent by the end of the financial year. As per estimates, the EPFO's incremental deposits for 2014-15 would be around 80 thousand crore rupees.

Background
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget 2015-16 presented on 28 February 2015 proposed a new investment pattern under which the EPFO would invest a minimum of 5 percent of its investable funds into equity and equity related schemes.