NPS returns by pension fund: how to compare managers

What problem does the NPS returns tracker solve?

If you hold an Active Choice NPS account, you make two decisions: which pension fund manages the money, and how it splits across Scheme E (equity), Scheme C (corporate bonds) and Scheme G (government securities). Every pension fund runs the same schemes under the same investment rules, so the honest comparison is the same scheme across every manager. The NPS returns tracker lays it out that way. All figures in this post are to the latest NAV date on the page, 14 October 2026.

Step 1: jump to the scheme you hold

The page heading reads "Every scheme of all 10 pension fund managers, with 1, 3, 5 and 10-year returns to 14 Oct 2026". Under it is a row of chips, one per group: Scheme E — Tier I, Scheme C — Tier I, Scheme G — Tier I, the closed Scheme A, the three Tier II schemes, then the government, Unified Pension Scheme, Atal Pension Yojana, NPS Lite and NPS Vatsalya groups, down to the Multiple Scheme Framework products. Each chip jumps to its table.

Step 2: read one table

Each table has seven columns: Pension fund, NAV, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y, 10Y and Since launch, with the launch date under the since-launch figure. Returns over a year are CAGR. The rows are sorted by 3-year return, and there is one row per pension fund, on the scheme's original POP variant. A dash means the fund is too young for that window: Tata and Axis launched in 2022 and DSP in December 2023.

Worked example: Scheme E, Tier I

Here is the Scheme E — Tier I table as it read on 14 October 2026:

Three readings come out of it:

1. The ranking depends on the window. HDFC is fifth over three years and first over ten, at 12.01% a year. Tata leads the 3-year column but has no 5-year record.
2. The spread is narrow. Over five years the seven managers with a record ran from 6.17% (SBI) to 7.75% (ICICI), a gap of 1.58 points a year. On ₹1 lakh over five years that is about ₹1,45,240 against ₹1,34,899, a difference of roughly ₹10,300.
3. Every manager lost money over the year. The 1-year column runs from −3.90% to −8.33%. That is the equity market, not the managers.

Now scroll to Scheme G — Tier I for the same date. ICICI's Scheme G returned 5.48% a year over five years, against 7.75% for its Scheme E: a gap of 2.27 points, bigger than the gap between the highest and lowest equity manager. Over one year the order flips, with every Scheme C fund positive (+2.86% to +3.75%) while Scheme E was negative everywhere. This is the page's own point in its "How to read NPS returns" note: the mix between E, C and G is the bigger decision, not the manager.

Step 3: open one scheme's page

Each fund name links to its scheme page. SBI's Scheme E Tier I page, for example, opens with four tiles (NAV, 1 year, 5Y CAGR and Max drawdown) above a NAV history chart. Its Returns block adds 3 years, 10 years, Since launch and Volatility: on 14 October 2026 that read a maximum drawdown of −36.55% and volatility of 13.46%, from 4,272 NAVs since May 2009.

Below that, "Other variants" lists the same scheme's GS and Direct versions at the same manager, and a peer table repeats the scheme at every other pension fund, so you can move sideways without going back to the hub.

Before you act on a difference

The tracker shows returns; acting on them has rules. Under PFRDA's circular quoted on the page, you can change pension fund manager once a financial year and your asset allocation up to four times, separately for Tier I and Tier II. A manager switch on the strength of one strong year chases the 1Y column, which the table above shows is the noisiest one. Read the 5Y and 10Y columns first, and check whether your current manager is consistently at the bottom rather than having one bad year.

What the NPS returns tracker does not tell you

• Your own return. Your account's XIRR depends on when you contributed, and unit-cancelling charges are not in the NAV. The CRA statement is the record for that.
• Tax. The extra ₹50,000 deduction is old-regime only; the NPS tax benefits guide covers the rest.
• Whether NPS suits you. EPF vs NPS for retirement and the NPS explained guide cover that, and Auto Choice vs Active Choice covers who should set the mix at all.

For a dated summary of the same tables, see NPS returns by pension fund, October 2026. The official NAV source is NPS Trust; the NPS returns tracker computes its returns from those NAVs. Past returns do not predict future ones, and nothing here is advice.