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What are auto choice and active choice in the National Pension System (NPS)?

NPS offers two asset allocation options:

Auto Choice: The asset allocation between equity, government bonds, and corporate bonds is adjusted automatically based on the investor's age.

Active choice: The asset allocation between the three asset classes can be chosen by the investor.

Auto choice

An investor can choose between aggressive, moderate, and conservative asset allocation. The allocation between equity (E), corporate bonds (C), and government bonds (G) varies across these plans.

Aggressive asset allocation

Age (years) Asset Class Equity (%) Asset Class Corporate bond (%) Asset Class Government bonds (%)
Up to 35 75 10 15
36 71 11 18
37 67 12 21
38 63 13 24
39 59 14 27
40 55 15 30
41 51 16 33
42 47 17 36
43 43 18 39
44 39 19 42
45 35 20 45
46 32 20 48
47 29 20 51
48 26 20 54
49 23 20 57
50 20 20 60
51 19 18 63
52 18 16 66
53 17 14 69
54 16 12 72
55 and above 15 10 75

Moderate asset allocation

Age (years) Asset Class Equity (%) Asset Class Corporate bond (%) Asset Class Government bonds (%)
Up to 35 50 30 20
36 48 29 23
37 46 28 26
38 44 27 29
39 42 26 32
40 40 25 35
41 38 24 38
42 36 23 41
43 34 22 44
44 32 21 47
45 30 20 50
46 28 19 53
47 26 18 56
48 24 17 59
49 22 16 62
50 20 15 65
51 18 14 68
52 16 13 71
53 14 12 74
54 12 11 77
55 and above 10 10 80

Conservative asset allocation

Age (years) Asset Class Equity (%) Asset Class Corporate bond (%) Asset Class Government bonds (%)
Up to 35 25 45 30
36 24 43 33
37 23 41 36
38 22 39 39
39 21 37 42
40 20 35 45
41 19 33 48
42 18 31 51
43 17 29 54
44 16 27 57
45 15 25 60
46 14 23 63
47 13 21 66
48 12 19 69
49 11 17 72
50 10 15 75
51 9 13 78
52 8 11 81
53 7 9 84
54 6 7 87
55 and above 5 5 90

Active choice

Under active choice, the asset allocation can be chosen by the investors, subject to the following limits:

  • Equity (E) Maximum of 75%
  • Corporate bonds (C) Maximum of 100%
  • Government bonds (G) Maximum of 100%
  • Alternative assets (A) Maximum of 5%

Did you know? Investments in alternative assets will be allocated to securities and funds such as real estate investment trusts ( REIT ) infrastructure investment trusts (INVIT), alternative investment funds (AIF), mortgage backed securities (MBS) etc.

How many times can the asset allocation be changed?

The asset allocation can be changed four times a year.