Pension-fund assets remain 14 per cent below their level at the start of the financial crisis, a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development shows.
The latest edition of the OECD's Pensions Market in Focus, published today, said the average value of pension assets were still below their December 2007 levels.
However, the report found there had been a partial recovery in the first half of 2009, with funds generating investment returns of 3.5 per cent
The Paris-based organisation said funds have recovered $1.5 trillion of the $5.4 trillion they lost in market value in 2008.
"Funded pension arrangements are recovering gradually from the financial crisis," the its report said.
"The recent market rally points to a further improvement in pension- fund performance,” it added.