NPS: 10 pension fund managers offered up to 28% return on equity in past one year

The National Pension System (NPS) subscribers are meant to opt for different pension fund managers and investment options they want to go for.

There are two investment options for NPS subscribers to choose from: auto and active. In active investment choice, subscribers can decide the ratio of different asset classes to invest: equity, government securities, corporate debt and alternative investment fund (AIF).

In auto investment choice, investment is made across asset classes based on the subscriber’s age and the risk appetite: conservative, moderate and aggressive. In conservative option, maximum allocation to equity is 25 percent of the portfolio, in moderate, it is 50 percent, and in aggressive, it is 75 percent of the portfolio.

At the time of filing up the form, subscribers must also opt for the pension fund manager for which it is vital to examine the returns given in the past one year.

Here, we are presenting the equity returns given on both Tier-I and Tier-II accounts. As we know that Tier -I is a compulsory retirement account whereas the latter is a voluntary savings account that offers greater flexibility in terms of withdrawal.

(Source: npstrust.org.in; returns as on Jan 5, 2024)

As we can see in the table above, the 1-year-returns given by different pension fund managers range between 24 to 28 percent per annum.

The highest 1-year returns on equity investment in Tier-1 accounts were given by ICICI Prudential Pension Fund Management, followed by Tata Pension Fund which gave 27.37 percent return. The lowest 1-year returns (24.15%) were given by HDFC Pension Management.

(Source: npstrust.org.in; returns as on Jan 5, 2024)

As we can see in the table above, the 1-year returns given on equity investment of Tier-II accounts by different pension fund managers range between 22 to 28 percent per annum.

The highest 1-year returns of 28.41 percent were given by ICICI Prudential Pension Fund Management followed by 27.64 percent given by Tata Pension Management. The lowest 1-year-returns of 22.62 percent were given by LIC Pension Fund.

Meanwhile, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) recently allowed NPS subscribers to deposit their contributions through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) QR code directly under the D-Remit process.

Under this new mechanism, subscribers can utilise the UPI QR Code to transfer their contributions.