EPFO Investment: The Employees Provident Fund Organization, which runs a social security scheme for organized sector employees, fixes the annual EPF rate based on the returns earned by its subscribers from investing in debt instruments and Exchange Traded Funds in the stock market. But does EPFO ​​invest directly in the stock market? Which are the blue-chip shares that are included in the EPFO ​​portfolio? Obviously, every investor investing in the stock market would be curious to know whether shares of any blue-chip company are present in the EPFO ​​portfolio. This question was asked to the government in the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament. And you will be surprised to hear the answer given by the government!

Question to the government in parliament

In the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Labor and Employment, under which EPFO ​​comes, was asked whether EPFO ​​has invested a huge amount in debt instruments and exchange traded funds (ETFs)? How much has EPFO ​​invested in the stock market and related products in the last seven years and in the current year? Also, a question was asked how much EPF amount has been invested in the shares of blue chip companies in the last five years? 

Investment of 2.35 lakh crore in ETF 

Responding to this question, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said, as per the Pattern of Investment notified by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance on March 2, 2015, EPFO ​​invests under the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Trustees, EPF. EPFO ​​has invested in both debt instruments and exchange traded funds. Investment in ETFs started in August 2015. EPFO ​​has invested Rs 22,40,922.30 crore in debt instruments. This also includes the amount kept in the Public Account of India. EPFO ​​has invested Rs 2,34,921.49 crore in exchange traded funds. 

Which blue chip company's shares are held by EPFO?  

On the question related to investment of EPF amount in the shares of blue chip companies in the last five years and investment in the share market in the last seven years, the Minister of State for Labor and Employment said, EPFO ​​has not directly invested in the shares of any listed and unlisted companies in the equity market. That is, there are no blue chip shares in the portfolio of EPFO. 

Shobha Karandlaje told that EPFO ​​does not invest directly in any stocks in the equity market. EPFO ​​invests money in the stock market through exchange traded funds based on BSE-Sensex and NSE Nifty-50 indices. EPFO ​​has also invested in Bharat 22 ETF and CPSE Indices. He told that till October of the current financial year 2024-25, EPFO ​​has invested Rs 34,207.93 crore in ETF. 

EPFO pays interest on EPF every year!

The Employees Provident Fund Organization pays annual interest on the hard-earned money deposited by employees in the Provident Fund. As of March 31, 2024, a corpus of Rs 24.75 lakh crore was deposited in various funds managed by EPFO. In the financial year 2023-24, 8.25 percent EPF rate was declared. The EPF rate for the current financial year 2024-25 is yet to be declared.