Seven firms in race to manage EPFO's equity investments in FY17

Seven asset managers -- SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, Reliance Capital, HDFC, LIC, UTI and Kotak Mahindra -- are in the race to manage retirement fund body EPFO's investment in stock markets in the current fiscal.

"The Finance Audit and Investment Committee (FAIC) will open technical and financial bids submitted by seven firms -- SBI Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential, Reliance Capital, HDFC, LIC, UTI and Kotak Mahindra -- for managing EPFO's market investments in the current fiscal," an EPFO official said.

"FAIC will give recommendation on the basis of bid evaluation to the EPFO's apex decision-making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), headed by the labour minister to take a final call on the issue."

The meeting of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's trustees is scheduled for July 7. Once approved by CBT, the selected firm will manage EPFO's stock market investments for this fiscal.

At present, SBI Mutual Fund is looking after EPFO's stock investments in ETF. The term of the SBI Mutual Fund will end on June 30.

EPFO had started investing up to five per cent of its investible deposits in Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs) in August last year and put in around Rs 6,500 crore in the ETFs till April-end. The body has plans to invest about Rs 6,000 crore in the stock market in the current fiscal.

EPFO had chosen SBI Mutual Fund to manage its stock market investments as SBI has been its sole banker since it started operation way back in 1952.