Irish group pension funds lost €5.5 billion over the final seven months of 2007, with holdings in Irish shares accounting for almost €3 billion of that figure, according to figures published yesterday.

A dismal end to 2007 saw Irish pension funds shed 4 per cent in the final quarter of the year. All fund managers lost money in December and over the final three months of the year.

The data from Rubicon Investment Consulting show that AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM) was the best performing manager of group pension funds last year - and one of only two advisers to report a gain in a year when the Irish stock market lost 26 per cent.

AIBIM reported a gain of 1.3 per cent in a period when the average fund was 2.6 per cent down. That marked a sharp downturn from the end of May when the average fund was reporting gains of 5.9 per cent.

Eagle Star was the only other manager to report a gain at the end of the year.

A spokesman for AIBIM said the group's decision to reduce its holdings in Irish equities in the first quarter of the year had helped its performance.

Meanwhile, the misery of Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) continued. It recorded a loss of 7.6 per cent over the year, almost three times worse than the industry average.

BIAM's ongoing malaise means it is now reporting the worst figures in each category up to and including five years - where its annual return of 8.2 per cent compares with the 12.1 per cent growth in funds managed by Eagle Star, the best performing manager over that period.