ETFs triple in 2 yrs on back of steady inflow from EPFO, provident funds

The assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have nearly tripled in the past two years, on the back of steady inflow from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and provident funds.

ETFs are traded on stock exchanges, with stocks, bonds or commodities as the underlying product. An ETF’s portfolio exactly mimics the securities in its underlying index, in the same weightage.

The EPFO had entered the stock market in August 2015. The decision was to invest up to 5 per cent of its investible deposits; this was raised to 10 per cent in 2016 and then to 15 per cent in