EPFO asks ICICI Pru, SBI to improve returns

Unhappy with the performance of ICICI Pru AMC and State Bank of India--two of its two fund managers--during the first half of this fiscal, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has asked them to submit an action plan on earning better returns.

The Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC), in a strongly-worded letter to both these fund managers, has conveyed its concerns on the poor performance, expressed by the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC), the highest advisory body of the EPFO, Labour Ministry sources said.

While evaluating the performance of all the four fund mangers this fiscal, the FIC has observed that "SBI was laggard, closely followed by ICICI Pru AMC during the first half of the fiscal."

It further said, "during August and September, ICICI Pru AMC had the lowest performance, closely followed by SBI." Besides the SBI and ICICI Pru, the two other fund managers are Reliance Capital AMC and HSBC AMC.

Although SBI has submitted its reply, according to the sources, the organisation is not satisfied with the response. ICICI Pru AMC, however, has yet to respond to the letter.

When contacted, the ICICI Pru could not confirm having received a letter from the EPFO asking it to improve performance.