Maximise your returns by choosing this NPS combo

National Pension Scheme or NPS (Tier-I) is a solid investment opportunity for building a retirement corpus for all Indian citizens including those residing abroad aged between 18 and 70 in a cost-effective and tax-efficient manner. It's become an even better option after the Pension Fund Regulatory and Department Authority (PFRDA) recently made two modifications. Firstly, investors can now withdraw 60 per cent corpus at retirement in a staggered manner through the systematic lump sum withdrawal (SLW) after retirement till the age of 75. To know more about this development, click here . Secondly, NPS Active choice investors now have the flexibility to select up to three distinct fund managers for their investments. In other words, investors can now choose the best fund manager across the different NPS schemes. For the uninitiated, there are currently 11 NPS Tier-I fund managers - SBI, LIC, UTI, HDFC, ICICI Prudential, Kotak Mahindra, Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL), Tata, Max Life, Axis and DSP - that are offering four schemes: Equity (Scheme E), Government securities (Scheme G), Corporate bonds (Scheme C) and Alternative investment fund (Scheme A). So, if you need clarity on picking the best combination of fund managers, here you go. Please note, we have only chosen pension fund managers with at least a three-year history for our analysis. This criterion automatically excludes Tata, Max Life, Axis and DSP. Scheme E: Equity What you should know NPS Tier-I equity schemes can only invest in the top 200 stocks by market capitalisation. So, by design, these schemes can't invest in small-cap stocks. The standout performer HDFC is head and shoulders above the other fund managers. What sets it apa