Eagle Star has retained its leading position in the managed pension funds business with an average 22.6 per cent return over the key five-year period usually used by pension fund trustees when assessing the performance of their fund manager. The figures were published separately yesterday by Mercer Actuaries and Irish Pensions Trust (IPT).

Friends First, formerly Friends Provident, is in second position in the five-year league table with a 20.3 per cent annual return, followed by Norwich Union with 20.2 per cent.

Only six out 14 pension fund managers actually beat the 19.2 per cent average return over the five-year period and the worst returns were reported by Canada Life with 17.2 per cent and Irish Life with 17.9 per cent.

The quarterly figures from Mercer and IPT show a slight negative return in the second quarter of 1998, mainly due to the softer tone on international markets, the turbulence on Asian markets and fears of an interest rate rise in the US.