{"id":8205,"date":"2026-10-26T12:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T07:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1finance.co.in\/1f-dashboard\/?post_type=blog&p=8205"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T10:35:57","slug":"sbi-pension-fund-nps-review","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/1finance.co.in\/1f-dashboard\/blog\/sbi-pension-fund-nps-review\/","title":{"rendered":"SBI Pension Fund NPS review: returns, portfolio and fees (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

SBI Pension Funds is one of the original NPS pension funds and the second largest in the private-sector schemes. Its regular Tier I E, C and G schemes hold about \u20b978,100 crore. It also had the second-largest subscriber base in Scheme E Tier I, with 22.3 lakh accounts in July 2025.<\/p>\n

Its record splits cleanly in two. SBI is strong in corporate and government bonds, and weakest of all ten funds in equity over every long period.<\/p>\n

This review covers non-government (All Citizen and Corporate) schemes. SBI also manages government employees’ NPS money, which isn’t included here.<\/em><\/p>\n

At a glance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Scheme (Tier I)<\/th>\nAssets<\/th>\n3-year return (rank)<\/th>\n5-year return (rank)<\/th>\n10-year return (rank)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Scheme E (equity)<\/td>\n\u20b929,060 crore<\/td>\n6.45% (9 of 9)<\/td>\n7.47% (7 of 7)<\/td>\n10.77% (6 of 6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scheme C (corporate bonds)<\/td>\n\u20b917,078 crore<\/td>\n7.63% (3 of 9)<\/td>\n6.47% (2 of 7)<\/td>\n7.62% (2 of 6 (tied))<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scheme G (government bonds)<\/td>\n\u20b931,983 crore<\/td>\n6.45% (4 of 9)<\/td>\n5.78% (4 of 7)<\/td>\n7.09% (2 of 6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Returns for Tier I as on 18 September 2026; assets from Value Research, October 2026. Rank is among funds with a record for that period.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scheme E (equity)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nSBI<\/th>\nBenchmark<\/th>\nAverage of all funds<\/th>\nRank<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1 year<\/td>\n-4.13%<\/td>\n-3.95%<\/td>\n-5.09%<\/td>\n4 of 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 years<\/td>\n6.45%<\/td>\n8.56%<\/td>\n8.10%<\/td>\n9 of 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5 years<\/td>\n7.47%<\/td>\n8.76%<\/td>\n8.44%<\/td>\n7 of 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7 years<\/td>\n12.30%<\/td>\n14.05%<\/td>\n13.42%<\/td>\n7 of 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 years<\/td>\n10.77%<\/td>\n12.37%<\/td>\n11.55%<\/td>\n6 of 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Since inception<\/td>\n10.31%<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

SBI ranks last over 3, 5, 7 and 10 years. Its 10-year return of 10.77% is 1.60 percentage points a year below the benchmark and 1.37 points below HDFC, the best fund. Over a decade, \u20b91 lakh grew to about \u20b92.78 lakh with SBI against \u20b93.14 lakh with HDFC.<\/p>\n

The last year was better: SBI ranked fourth, with -4.13% against the benchmark’s -3.95%. One good year doesn’t change a ten-year pattern, though.<\/p>\n

The scheme is almost fully invested, with 98.30% in equity. Its \u20b929,060 crore makes it the third-largest Scheme E book.<\/p>\n

Scheme C (corporate bonds)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nSBI<\/th>\nBenchmark<\/th>\nAverage of all funds<\/th>\nRank<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1 year<\/td>\n5.44%<\/td>\n4.90%<\/td>\n5.26%<\/td>\n3 of 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 years<\/td>\n7.63%<\/td>\n7.05%<\/td>\n7.50%<\/td>\n3 of 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5 years<\/td>\n6.47%<\/td>\n6.19%<\/td>\n6.43%<\/td>\n2 of 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7 years<\/td>\n7.37%<\/td>\n7.48%<\/td>\n7.33%<\/td>\n2 of 7 (tied)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 years<\/td>\n7.62%<\/td>\n7.59%<\/td>\n7.52%<\/td>\n2 of 6 (tied)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Since inception<\/td>\n9.28%<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here SBI is among the leaders. It ranks second over 5 years, joint second over 7 and 10 years, and third over 3 years. It beat the benchmark over 3, 5 and 10 years.<\/p>\n

The portfolio is 73.54% AAA-rated and 16.06% AA-rated, with 8.75% in cash. Its largest holdings include bonds of HDFC Bank, Bharti Telecom and ICICI Prudential.<\/p>\n

Scheme G (government bonds)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nSBI<\/th>\nBenchmark<\/th>\nAverage of all funds<\/th>\nRank<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1 year<\/td>\n2.93%<\/td>\n3.43%<\/td>\n2.93%<\/td>\n6 of 10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 years<\/td>\n6.45%<\/td>\n6.75%<\/td>\n6.25%<\/td>\n4 of 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5 years<\/td>\n5.78%<\/td>\n5.90%<\/td>\n5.73%<\/td>\n4 of 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7 years<\/td>\n6.58%<\/td>\n6.41%<\/td>\n6.55%<\/td>\n3 of 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 years<\/td>\n7.09%<\/td>\n6.86%<\/td>\n7.07%<\/td>\n2 of 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Since inception<\/td>\n8.60%<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n\u2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

SBI has the second-best 10-year government bond record (7.09%), behind LIC, and ranks third over 7 years. It holds very long bonds: its largest holding is a 7.24% government bond maturing in 2055, at 15.64% of the fund. The scheme is 88.69% sovereign, with 7.74% in cash.<\/p>\n

MSF schemes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Scheme (as listed by NPS Trust)<\/th>\nEquity range<\/th>\nAssets (\u20b9 crore)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Jeevan Swarna – Tier I<\/td>\n0%-100%<\/td>\n59.26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Akshay Dhara – Tier I<\/td>\n25%-50%<\/td>\n23.56<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

NPS Trust, as on 30 September 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeevan Swarna can hold anywhere from 0% to 100% in equity, so the manager decides how much risk you carry. Akshay Dhara is a balanced scheme with 25% to 50% equity. Together they hold \u20b983 crore, the third-largest MSF total. See the MSF comparison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fees<\/h2>\n

From 1 April 2026, the investment management fee on regular non-government NPS schemes is slab-based: 0.12% a year on the first \u20b925,000 crore of assets, then 0.08%, 0.06% and 0.04% on higher slabs. MSF schemes can charge up to 0.30%.<\/p>\n

Verdict<\/h2>\n