Best ETF Pakistan 2026: All 9 PSX ETFs Ranked by Performance, Cost & Risk

No ETF is universally "best." The right ETF depends on your risk tolerance, investment horizon, and whether Shariah compliance matters to you. This ranking uses data, not marketing. I update it after each major rebalancing cycle.

Pakistan's ETF market has 9 funds as of 2026-07-27. They are not equal. The difference in cost, liquidity, and tracking quality between the best and worst options on this list is large enough to change your financial outcome over a decade. This ranking scores all 9 on four criteria that actually matter for long-term investors.

Data as of 2026-07-27. Source: PSX, MUFAP, and fund factsheets.

---

What Changed in 2026

Three developments have materially shifted this ranking since the 2025 edition:

1. Pakistan moved to T+1 settlement (February 9, 2026). All PSX ETFs now settle in one business day instead of two. This improves capital efficiency for active traders but changes nothing for long-term holders. The practical implication: HBLTETF's case as a near-cash instrument improved slightly - you are now one business day from liquidity rather than two.

2. SBP's rate-cutting cycle compressed fixed-income returns. With Pakistan's policy rate falling from 22% toward 12-13%, HBLTETF's forward yield has moderated significantly. It still ranks first in this list for capital preservation mandates, but its total return advantage over equity ETFs has narrowed. Investors who bought HBLTETF in 2023 captured the high-rate environment; new buyers face a lower-return regime.

3. JSGBETF's 2.50% management fee is confirmed as permanent. No fee reduction has been announced. At 2.50% TER, this fund remains the most expensive passive product on any exchange in the region and ranks last in this list accordingly.

No new ETFs launched in the first half of 2026. MIIETF and MZNPETF retain their positions as Pakistan's only Shariah equity ETFs.

Before reading the rankings: TER is only one of seven structural costs that widen the gap between what an index returns and what you actually receive. Read why PSX ETFs underperform their index - the full cost breakdown to understand what each drag costs you before choosing a fund.

---

The 9 PSX ETFs at a Glance

---

Ranking Framework & Scoring Matrix

Each fund is scored across four dimensions with a total of 100 points. Here is every score, made visible:

How each criterion is scored:

• Performance (30 pts): 1-year NAV return relative to peers and benchmark. Higher return, higher score.
• Cost (25 pts): Full estimated TER. Inversely scored - lower TER earns more points. JSGBETF's 2.50% TER scores 2/25.
• Scale (25 pts): AUM in PKR million. MIIETF at PKR 1,761M scores maximum. ACIETF at PKR 74M scores 5/25.
• Tracking (20 pts): How closely the ETF follows its index (lifetime tracking gap). Smaller gap scores higher.

---

The Rankings

#1 - HBLTETF: Best for Capital Preservation

Score: 79/100 | Full Review

HBLTETF leads the overall ranking not because it is the most exciting fund, but because it does its job with exceptional consistency. It tracks Pakistan Government Securities - T-Bills and PIBs and has delivered the smoothest return profile of any PSX ETF. When every equity fund corrected sharply in early 2026, HBLTETF holders slept well.

The NAV of PKR 113 (highest of all 9 ETFs) reflects five years of quiet, compounding returns. When the SBP policy rate was at 22%, HBLTETF was delivering double-digit yields with near-zero equity risk. As rates normalise toward 12-13%, forward returns will moderate - but it remains the only capital-preservation ETF on the PSX.

One honest caveat: HBLTETF is not Shariah-compliant. It holds conventional government debt. For Shariah investors seeking fixed-income alternatives, there is no equivalent product on the PSX yet - a meaningful gap in Pakistan's ETF market.

Best for: Conservative investors, capital preservation, anyone who needs a fixed-income allocation without buying bonds directly.

---

#2 - MIIETF: Best Overall Equity ETF

Score: 78/100 | Full Review

MIIETF is the strongest equity ETF on the PSX by almost every metric that matters to a long-term investor. It is the largest (PKR 1,761M AUM - 24x larger than ACIETF), most liquid (tightest bid-ask spread on the exchange), and despite its higher headline management fee (0.75%), delivers a lower all-in TER (~1.15%) than its Shariah rival MZNPETF (~1.41%).

The 30-stock MII30 index gives MIIETF broader diversification than any other Shariah ETF on the PSX, with a 10% single-stock cap preventing the extreme concentration that affects MZNPETF. Its lifetime tracking gap of -11.84% is the second-tightest of all equity ETFs reviewed.

This launched in March 2024 - only 27 months ago and has already accumulated PKR 1.8 billion. That pace of AUM growth signals strong institutional confidence.

The catch: A 30-stock universe skewed toward fertilizers, oil, and cement means MIIETF is not a defensive holding. It will fall hard in a market correction. That is the correct behaviour for an equity index fund - own it with a 5+ year horizon and do not check the NAV weekly.

Best for: Long-term Shariah equity investors. Core portfolio holding. First ETF purchase for any Shariah-conscious Pakistani investor.

---

#3 - MZNPETF: Best Second Shariah Position

Score: 64/100 | Full Review

MZNPETF is Pakistan's oldest Shariah ETF (October 2020) and carries the track record that MIIETF cannot yet match. Al Meezan Investments, Pakistan's largest Islamic asset manager, runs it with institutional rigour and a credible Shariah board.

But the structural numbers are less flattering. MZNPETF's 12-stock concentration means the top five holdings represent over 64% of the fund - significantly higher than MIIETF's ~48%. Its lifetime tracking gap of -28.07% (more than double MIIETF's -11.84%) is a genuine concern and warrants explanation: the smaller basket creates more rebalancing friction, and higher Shariah audit costs push the all-in TER above 1.40%.

The lower management fee (0.50%) that many investors cite as MZNPETF's advantage is actually misleading - the full TER is worse, not better, than MIIETF. I have written about this discrepancy extensively in the MIIETF review.

Best for: A second Shariah position (20-30% of a Shariah equity allocation) alongside MIIETF as the core. Not as a standalone primary position given its tracking issues.

---

#4 - UBLPETF: Best Conventional Broad-Market ETF

Score: 62/100 | Full Review

UBLPETF earns its ranking through a genuinely differentiated product design: it is the only broad-market ETF on the PSX that explicitly excludes Oil & Gas sector stocks. For investors who already have energy exposure through other positions - or who simply do not want commodity price risk in their portfolio - this is a meaningful structural difference.

UBL Fund Managers' transparency on fees and holdings is also above average for the Pakistani market. The fund publishes regular Fund Manager Reports and does not obscure its methodology.

The constraint is AUM. Without publicly available AUM data, liquidity assessment is difficult. Use limit orders when trading.

Best for: Conventional investors (non-Shariah) who want broad PSX equity exposure without oil & gas sector concentration. Use as a pair with MIIETF for a diversified conventional + Shariah portfolio.

---

#5 - NITGETF: Lowest Management Fee on the PSX

Score: 60/100 | Full Review

NITGETF is managed by National Investment Trust (NIT), Pakistan's oldest and most established government-owned fund management institution. The NIT brand carries institutional weight that private AMCs cannot replicate.

The 0.40% management fee is the lowest of any equity ETF on the PSX. For cost-focused investors who are comfortable with a government-managed product, this is a legitimate advantage.

The scoring limitation: limited publicly available tracking data makes independent tracking quality analysis difficult. NIT's disclosure standards, while improving, lag behind private AMCs on some metrics.

Best for: Investors who specifically prefer government-backed fund management at minimum cost. Consider alongside UBLPETF for conventional broad-market exposure.

---

#6 - NBPGETF: Broad-Market with Government Backing

Score: 58/100 | Full Review

NBPGETF has delivered strong recent performance momentum and benefits from NBP's extensive institutional distribution network. Like NITGETF, it carries government-backing credibility. The slightly higher management fee (0.75%) and less transparent index methodology bring it one place below NITGETF on the cost and tracking dimensions.

Best for: Broad-market equity investors who prioritise government-affiliated management and are comfortable with less granular fund methodology disclosure.

---

#7 - ACIETF: Best Thematic / Consumer Satellite

Score: 51/100 | Full Review

ACIETF is the most genuinely differentiated product on the PSX. It is the only ETF that explicitly excludes banks, oil exploration, and fertilizers - the three sectors that dominate every other equity ETF. Its basket of cement, auto, pharmaceutical, and consumer names provides real diversification from the standard PSX mix.

The problem is size. At PKR 74.7M AUM, ACIETF is tiny by any measure. Some days it trades zero volume on the exchange. Wide bid-ask spreads, execution risk, and the structural possibility that the fund never reaches critical mass are all real concerns that rank it below its better-diversified peers for most investors.

Do not dismiss it entirely. As a 10-20% satellite position on top of a liquid core holding like MIIETF, it adds genuine thematic exposure that no other PSX ETF provides. As a standalone holding, it is not appropriate.

Best for: Investors with an established core position who want a domestic consumer cycle tilt. Satellite only - not a primary holding.

---

#8 - JSMFETF: Entry-Level Access, High Tactical Risk

Score: 49/100 | Full Review

JSMFETF uses a pure price momentum strategy - selecting the 10 PSX stocks with the strongest recent price performance and rebalancing monthly. At PKR 10.65 per unit, it is the most accessible ETF on the exchange by price.

Momentum is a legitimate academic factor that has worked across many markets globally. Whether monthly rebalancing is frequent enough to capture it efficiently on the PSX is an open empirical question. The fund is better thought of as an experimental tactical tool than a long-term core position.

Best for: Investors with very limited capital (under PKR 10,000) who want any equity market exposure. Or as a small experimental allocation for investors who understand factor investing. Not for core portfolios.

---

#9 - JSGBETF: Cannot Recommend at Current Fee

Score: 38/100 | Full Review

JSGBETF's 2.50% management fee - three to five times what any other comparable ETF charges - is the single most important fact about this fund. For a passive product that does nothing more sophisticated than hold a basket of PSX commercial banking stocks, this fee is indefensible.

To be fair: JSGBETF delivered a remarkable +96.52% 1-year return (as of 2026-07-27), the highest of all 9 PSX ETFs. Pakistani banks were extraordinary performers during the high-rate cycle of 2023-2025, and if you held this fund through that period, the fee was largely invisible against such outsized gains. But past banking sector performance is exactly the wrong reason to buy this fund today. The rate cycle is turning. As SBP policy rates normalise, banking sector spreads compress, and the tailwind becomes a headwind - a 2.50% annual drag on returns is the kind of structural weight that erases gains in a moderate-return environment.

I would not own JSGBETF at this fee level. If you have a specific thesis on Pakistani commercial banks, buying individual bank stocks with a brokerage account carries a lower annual cost.

Best for: No recommendation at current fee levels. Watch for any management fee reduction before reconsidering.

---

Final Verdict by Investor Type

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Which PSX ETF has the highest return in 2026?

Recent return data fluctuates significantly. JSGBETF shows the highest 1-year return at +96.52% as of 2026-07-27, driven by the exceptional banking sector cycle - but this is a backward-looking number in a rate-cutting environment. MZNPETF shows +26.43% and NITGETF +40.27% over 12 months. But chasing the prior year's top performer is the wrong framework - focus on cost, liquidity, and tracking quality for decisions that compound over 5-10 years.

Which PSX ETF is best for Shariah-compliant investors?

MIIETF is the stronger primary holding (larger, more liquid, lower all-in TER). MZNPETF is a legitimate secondary position. Many Shariah investors hold both. See the detailed MIIETF vs MZNPETF comparison for the full analysis.

Is investing in PSX ETFs safe?

No investment is "safe" - all equity ETFs carry market risk including possible loss of principal. HBLTETF (government securities) has the lowest market risk of the nine. SECP risk ratings classify all equity ETFs as "High" or "Very High Risk." ETFs are appropriate for capital you will not need for 3-5+ years.

How much should I start with?

One board lot of MIIETF (500 units at ~PKR 16.98 = ~PKR 8,490) is a complete, diversified position in 30 Shariah-compliant Pakistani companies. That is a sufficient first investment. Add to it consistently each month rather than waiting to accumulate a larger lump sum.

---

Try Our Free Tools:

• ETF Comparison Tool - Compare any two PSX ETFs side-by-side for overlap, TER, and returns
• Portfolio Exposure Analyzer - Measure your true sector and stock exposure
• ETF Basket Simulator - See exactly which stocks you own inside any PSX ETF
• ETF Portfolio Intelligence Map - Visualize overlap across all 9 PSX ETFs

Further Reading: 7 Reasons a PSX ETF Underperforms Its Index | Pakistan ETF Expense Ratio Guide | NAV vs Market Price Explained