NEW DELHI, October 8 — The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Thursday notified circular guidelines allowing National Pension System (NPS) subscribers under the All Citizen and Corporate models to distribute their pension contributions across multiple Pension Fund Managers (PFMs).
Under previous regulations, a subscriber was restricted to selecting a single fund manager for their aggregate contribution across Equity (Asset Class E), Corporate Bonds (Asset Class C), Government Securities (Asset Class G), and Alternative Assets (Asset Class A). The updated architecture permits unbundled selection, allowing subscribers to allocate each distinct asset class to separate top-performing fund managers simultaneously.
The pension regulator emphasized that the reform empowers over 1.4 crore private and corporate subscribers to optimize portfolio yield by matching asset classes with managers demonstrating proven alpha-generation histories. The multi-manager allocation feature will be integrated across Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs)—including Protean, KFintech, and CAMS—without incurring transaction fees or tax implications under Section 80CCD of the Income Tax Act.
Social security structures, the PFRDA Act 2013, the distinction between defined-benefit plans (Old Pension Scheme, Unified Pension Scheme - UPS) and defined-contribution frameworks (NPS), and financial regulatory institutions are recurring topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Indian Economy) and banking regulatory examinations (RBI Grade B, SEBI Grade A). Candidates should note that PFRDA regulates ten pension fund managers managing over ₹12 lakh crore in assets under management (AUM), including the universal safety-net vehicle Atal Pension Yojana (APY).