Strong year for Irish pension funds

Irish pensions returned 3.5 per cent in December, according to Rubicon Investment Consulting.

The strong performance in the final month of 2010 brought to a close a good year for Irish pension funds, with the average fund returning 11.1 per cent in the year.

Irish group managed pensions funds saw positive returns in eight out of the twelve months in 2010. Standard Life Investments was the best performer, returning 16.4 per cent in the year, while at the other end of the spectrum Aviva Investors returned 8.8 per cent.

The average managed fund advanced 5.7 per cent over the final quarter of the year. Standard Life Investments fund returned 7.4 per cent during this period, while Irish Life Investment Managers returned 3.8 per cent.

The strong performance of Irish pension funds last year contrasts with the longer-term performance of the funds.

The five year returns to the end of December were mostly negative, with an average return of -0.6 per cent per annum over this period.

Similarly, Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been a disappointing 1.1 per cent per annum on average, well below the Irish inflation rate of 2.3 per cent per annum over the same period.