If you have recently checked your pension statement and are feeling rather aggrieved then take comfort, you're probably not the only one, says Deborah Reidy, director of investment consulting at Hewitt Associates. The answer is not to go out and sack your pension fund manager either, she says, adding that you would probably find yourself in the same situation, irrespective of which fund manager you had chosen to look after your assets.

"Many companies have become disillusioned with the active management of their pension funds as a result of recent poor performance relative to indices," says Reidy. "But before decisions are made to jump to passive or multi-manager alternatives, it is worth considering whether in fact, something strange is happening in the Irish managed fund universe of late."

Hewitt's latest quarterly review of the performance of managed funds, released last week, shows that the spread of managed fund returns around the Hewitt managed fund index has become much narrower over the past three years than it has been for most of the last 10 years.

In other words, the difference between the highest and lowest performing managers has reduced considerably, making it harder for fund managers to beat the index as a whole and meaning there is less opportunity for them to pick stocks that will strongly outperform. Add to that the trading costs and management fees incurred by active Irish managed funds and the vast majority of managers have under performed the index, according to Hewitt.

Describing the lack of volatility in the market over the past four years as unusual, Reidy says she is hoping for a turnaround soon. "It hasn't been this low for this long in the last 12 years and we are expecting a turnaround in the near term," she says. "It's been very unique in terms of how long it has lasted."

The best performer in Hewitt's review of managed funds' performance for the third quarter was Montgomery Oppenheim, which this week changed its name to Oppenheim Investment Managers. The fund has a 6.9 per cent return on an annualised quarterly basis. Oppenheim was also the best performer over a 10-year period, with a return of 12.7 per cent per annum.

Year to date, Canada Life/Setanta ranked number one, giving investors a return of 18.1 per cent, while over a five-year period, Bank of Ireland Asset Management outperformed its rivals, giving investors a return of 3.6 per cent.

Over longer periods, Bank of Ireland and Montgomery Oppenheim have traditionally outperformed their peers, said Reidy.