Top NPS Mutual Funds: National Pension System (NPS) is a popular retirement scheme, where an account holder makes lump sum or monthly contributions and get lump sum money at retirement and monthly pension after that. Unlike Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), which offers a fixed interest rate, NPS  is a market-linked scheme, where a pension fund manager (PFM) invests in equity and related instruments (Class E), corporate debt and related instruments (Class C), government bonds and related instruments (Class G), and alternative investment funds, including instruments like CMBS, MBS, REITS, AIFs, Invlts, etc (Class A). NPS has Tier I and Tier II account.

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Contributions in Tier I account provides tax benefits of up to Rs 2 lakh in a financial year, but the lock-in period in the scheme is 60 years of age.

A Tier II account doesn't provide any tax benefit, but it doesn't have any lock-in period and has the same characteristics as of any equity mutual fund.  

NPS subscribers can pick either active choice, where they can choose their investment options, or the auto choice, where the proportion of funds invested across three asset classes is determined by a pre-defined portfolio. 

Anyone who opts for Class E can pick for a maximum 75 per cent allocation to equity.

Equity mutual funds have been the best performers among all NPS investment classes in the last 10 years.

Here, we are giving a list of top NPS Tier I mutual funds and what Rs 10,000 investment in each of the fund has given in the 10-year period (As per Value Research data). 

UTI Retirement Solutions - Scheme E - TIER I

The fund that tops the chart has given 16.53 per cent annualised SIP returns (XIRR) in the 10-year period.

The fund's asset under management (AUM) is Rs 2,257 crore, while its net asset value (NAV) is Rs 68.77.

Benchmarked against Nifty 50, the fund has 98.67 per cent of its investments in equities.

ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries Limited, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro are the main stocks under its portfolio.

A Rs 10,000 monthly SIP in the fund for 10 years, or a total investment of Rs 12 lakh, has given a total of Rs 2,844,340 in the last 10 years. 

ICICI Prudential Pension Fund - Scheme E - TIER I

The Tier I fund in the No. 2 position has given SIP returns of 16.53 per cent in the 10-year period.

The fund has an AUM of Rs 13,656 crore, while its NAV is at Rs 69.6747.

Benchmarked against Nifty 50, the fund has 98.14 per cent of its investments in equities.

The fund's biggest holdings in its portfolio are ICICI Bank, RIL, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharti Airtel.

A Rs 10,000 monthly SIP in the fund has given a total of Rs 28,43,510 in the 10 years.  

HDFC Pension Fund - Scheme E - Tier I 

The fund has given 16.30 per cent return in the 10-year period.

The fund has an AUM of Rs 39,162 crore, while its NAV is priced at Rs 50.81.

Benchmarked against CNX Nifty 50, the fund has 98.53 per cent of its investments in equities.

The top holdings in the HDFC pension fund's portfolio are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and State Bank of India.

A Rs 10,000 SIP in the fund has given a total of Rs 2,809,170 in the 10 years. 

Kotak Pension Fund - Scheme E - TIER I

The fund has given 16.30 per cent annual SIP returns in the 10-year period.

The fund has an AUM of Rs 2,241 crore, while its NAV is worth Rs 63.61.

The fund has 96.24 per cent of its investments in equities.

The fund that is benchmarked against Nifty 50 has HDFC Bank, RIL, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and Maruti Suzuki India as its main holdings.

A Rs 10,000 monthly SIP in the fund has given a total of Rs 2,810,880 in the 10-year period. 

LIC Pension Fund

The fund that was started in July 2013 has given a 15.46 per cent annualised return in the 10-year period.

The fund has an AUM of Rs 5,362 crore, while its NAV is Rs 43.00.

The Tier I fund has 98.71 per cent of its investments in its equities.

The fund has RIL, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, and SBI as the main stocks in its portfolio.

A Rs 10,000 monthly SIP in the fund has given 26,85,160 in the 10-year period.