NPS exposure
M G Warrier
June 5, 2019
NPS exposure
This refers to the report “PFRDA official: 75% of NPS’ Rs1270- cr
exposure to IL&FS marked down” (The Hindu Business Line, June 5). For an asset-base of Rs3.2 lakh
crore, Rs1000 crore in red may look manageably low. But, for the Indian pension
fund which is managed under multiple regulatory guidelines and is under
pressure to maintain credibility and trust as the game is with the retirement
corpus of people who have nothing else to fall back post-retirement, stakes are
high.
Government at the Centre has to look at infusing professionalism in fund
management seriously. Whether it would be admitted openly is another matter,
but the manner in which government has been influencing fund management by statutory
bodies, banks and organizations in which GOI is a stakeholder during the recent
past was not guided by professionalism.
It is the government’s responsibility and right to decide the policy for
resource management where public funds including bank deposits are involved.
But it is also necessary to build public trust about the safety of such funds
by having a transparent policy framework to ensure the safety, security and
appropriate liquidity levels in fund management. For pension funds, perhaps
government could consider legislating for investment of the entire corpus in
G-Secs guaranteeing reasonable return on funds invested.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
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