SBI won't be EPFO fund manager from March-end: Govt

New Delhi: The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) will cease to be a fund manager of retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) by March-end, as a bank cannot function as an asset management company under the RBI norms. "We have been told that SBI cannot work (as fund manager of the EPFO). We have not engaged (its arm) SBI Mutual Fund (as fund manager) because it was not there (as an applicant at the time of bidding) earlier," Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said.

He was addressing reporters after a meeting of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT), chaired by him here. The minister also said: "We have given them (all five fund managers) time till March. We will discuss and take a call as to whom we can engage as a fund manager. We had engaged SBI. But its job is banking and not this job (fund managing). SBI Mutual (Fund) was not enrolled with us as a fund manager. After March, if they (SBI's fund managing arm) come for this then we can engage them."

Currently, SBI, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, Reliance Capital, HSBC AMC and UTI AMC are fund managers of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has separately engaged SBI

Capital and UTI Mutual Funds as exchange-traded fund (ETF) managers.

The SBI Capital manages 75 per cent of ETF investment of the EPFO, while the UTI Mutual Funds takes care of the remaining 25 per cent.