This NPS pension fund is an outlier in a year with double-digit returns. Where does it invest?

As per data on the NPS Trust website, the annualised returns of DSP Pension Fund under NPS Scheme E (Tier 1) is 10.51% in a year till July 11, 2025.

DSP Pension Fund is also the only pension fund manager with double-digit returns in one year.

After DSP Pension Fund, the highest return under Scheme E (Tier-1) in a year is 3.93% realised by Kotak Pension Fund. It is followed by the HDFC Pension Fund with a 2.78% return in a year.

Pension funds like SBI Pension Fund and Tata Pension Fund have delivered negative returns, -1.81% and -0.03% respectively, as of July 11, 2025.

Where does DSP Pension Fund invest?

The top 5 holdings of DSP Pension Fund Scheme E (Tier-1) as of May 30, 2025, were Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd, ITC Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, HSBC Liquid Fund - Growth Direct, and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The total weightage of the top 5 holdings was 40.78%.

Reliance Industries is a common stock among the top five holdings of all other pension funds, except the DSP Pension Fund. The top five holdings of most of the pension funds also include an IT stock like Infosys. However, DSP Pension Fund has a small allocation in Infosys.

Shares held by DSP Pension Fund

Top 5 holdings of pension funds

What's Scheme E?

The Scheme E of NPS invests primarily in equity and related instruments to enable higher long-term returns for investors. However, it also increases the investor's exposure to market-related risks as this scheme participates in the growth of equity markets.