Madam, - The National Pension Reserve Fund's recent loss of €1.7 billion or 12 per cent represents a truly dismal performance.
Having lost more than the total invested in it last year, it tries to favourably compare its losses to those of private Irish pension funds. This is a self-serving, lazy comparison. A more honest one would be to compare the NPRF to other state wealth funds: Norway's Pension Fund - Global grew by 4.2 per cent last year and its Pension Fund - Norway grew by 9.8 per cent. An over-reliance on domestic equity investments by the NTMA who run the NPRF is at fault. Instead of stopping investment in our future pension liabilities, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan should consider reviewing who runs our NPRF. - Yours, etc,
Dr MAIT Ó FAOLÁIN,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9.