Retirement fund body the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s investments in stock markets are not backed by any guarantee by the government as these are subject to market movements, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

“The government has not provided any guarantee for such investments in the stock market as investment in such instruments are subject to market movements,” Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

“Some of the trade unions have expressed reservations over the decision to invest in equity as they are concerned about the risk associated with the investments in stock market,” the Minister informed the House. The EPFO started investing in exchange-traded funds from August 6.

Dattatreya explained that the the Central Board of Trustees of EPFO had approved the proposal of investing in ETFs after considering the possible risk associated with the investments.

comment COMMENT NOW