Irish pension funds gained 3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1997 to bring the year's average return to 34.2 per cent, the latest update of the Mercer Pooled Fund survey shows.

Mercer noted that the resilient economies of Ireland, Europe and the US, were quick to recoup the losses suffered during the October correction in global equity markets and logged reasonable gains for the final quarter.

But Japan and other Asian markets were devastated by the crisis triggered by speculative attacks on the Hong Kong dollar.

The survey found that the top pension fund performer last year was Montgomery Oppenheim, with a return of 41 per cent, followed by Norwich Union and Equitable Life, each of which returned 37.2 per cent.

For the latest 10-year period, Bank of Ireland topped the league with returns of 15 per cent per annum.