New Delhi, May 30 -- Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) members enjoy a rare combination of benefits - their savings earn a government-backed, risk-free return and the interest is largely tax-free under existing rules. But, it would be interesting for them to know that Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) does not simply keep these contributions idle.

The retirement body invests a portion of its massive corpus across various asset classes. The investment includes debt instruments as well as equities through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the stock market.

As per rules, out of the total accruals in a year, EPFO can invest 85% in debt securities, and the remaining 15% can be invested in stocks.

For its debt portfolio, EPFO i...