“We have to look at new assets which can provide continuous and steady growth over a long period of time without volatility…We cannot show a very high return in one year, and after that, it drops off. That volatility we need to avoid,” PFRDA Chairman S Ramann told PTI.
It is to be noted that the subscribers under the National Pension System (NPS) are expected to rise over 22 per cent this year.
The total number of subscribers under NPS at the end of FY26 stood at 2.17 crore, with a total corpus of Rs 15.95 lakh crore.
“We have set up a committee which is looking into the long-term induction of different asset classes. We are learning from the experience of pension funds which are there globally.
“I am sure we will come up with a very good smooth glide path where we will be able to ensure that the returns coming to the NPS holders will be steady and will be on the rise,” he said.
Asked about PFRDA’s proposal for the Minimum Assured Pension plan, Ramann said it is very much on the table. “We are certainly looking at the concept of a Unified Pension Scheme for the private sector. That is the way it is easily understood if one has a guaranteed scheme,” he said, adding, there is a need to balance risk and return.
Somebody has to provide a guarantee for assured return, like in Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the government gives assurance and they bear the cost, he said.
Last year, pension fund regulator PFRDA issued a consultation paper on proposals for flexible, assured and predictable pension schemes. The paper proposed three distinct schemes under the NPS framework, each catering to different subscriber needs for assured and flexible pension payouts.
Talking about the focus on NPS for the non-government sector, Ramann said PFRDA is trying to sensitise various sub-segment of society for securing their future.
“So, we have created the sub-segment of agriculture, farmers, people who are largely agrarian-based, we have the smaller MSMEs, which are again in the various clusters that we have across the country. We, of course, even have the SHG groups where many of the persons are now going into their own individual businesses.
“So we have to target all these groups and this is what constitutes maybe 20-25 crore people and that is where it is our public duty to ensure that the right message goes to all these people (to save money for retirement),” he added.