The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched NPS PRIDE-Disha(pension fund returns for informed decision & empowerment), a new digital decision-support toolkit designed to help NPS subscribers compare the historical performance of different pension funds and investment choices.

Until now, NPS subscribers could compare pension funds using point-to-point lump sum returns such as 1, 2, 5 or 10-year returns, but NPS PRIDE-Disha will now allow them calculate SIP returns (extended internal rate of return, XIRR) and track nearly 5,000 days of historical NAV data.

The PFRDA has also advised all Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs) to ensure that the link to the NPS PRIDE-Disha tool should be made available through the nodal office interface and the subscriber login portal during the scheme/pension fund selection or switching process.

In a circular dated July 14, the PFRDA stated: “While such metrics offer a snapshot, they may not accurately reflect the actual investment experience of a subscriber who makes periodic, regular contributions over an extended period through voluntary or through employer - employee relationship. Moreover, under NPS, subscribers invest across these asset classes in a defined proportion and the NPS PRIDE - Disha provides the feature to compare choices of investment across asset classes.”

NPS subscribers have multiple pension funds and investment options to choose from. Until now, many investors relied on point-to-point lump sum returns of individual asset classes such as Equity (E), Corporate Bonds (C) and Government Securities (G) to compare pension funds. But now, through historical XIRR returns, they can calculate how their SIP investments would have grown under funds of different asset classes. The NPS PRIDE - Disha doesn’t provide future projections, but having knowledge of past SIP returns can give NPS subscribers an idea about the fund’s past record and can help them make informed decisions.

NPS PRIDE- Disha utilises historical scheme wise NAV since 2008. It allows users to evaluate returns across a defined set of investment combinations for specified time periods, based on historical NAV. Note that this does not provide any future projections or assumptions-based estimates.

According to the PFRDA, the platform currently offers nearly 4,800 investment combinations for comparison using over 1.10 lakh NAV data points.

The PFRDA has clarified that NPS PRIDE-Disha is not a return prediction tool. It does not provide future projections or estimate how pension funds may perform going forward.

According to the PFRDA circular, the NPS PRIDE-Disha tool provides:
The utilisation of 5000 days of daily historical NAV data of different pension funds.
Helps calculates periodic returns using the XIRR methodology
Can evaluate historical performance based on various parameters
Support for composite schemes, active choice and auto choice investment options.
Simulation of retirement wealth accumulation under different pension funds and investment choices.
Presentation of performance outcomes in a simple and intuitive bar graph format.

How to Access NPS PRIDE – Disha Subscribers may access the NPS PRIDE - Disha through the PFRDA website:
NPS PRIDE-Disha will help subscribers identify significant retirement wealth creators by evaluating historical performance in a choice-specific manner rather than only scheme-wise, point-to-point returns.
PRIDE Portal: https://pfrda.org.in/pride-calculator

PFRDA says future versions may include:
Tier II return analysis
NPS Vatsalya schemes
MSF schemes
Rolling returns
Trailing returns
Additional investment comparison features