Irish pension funds fail to reverse losses

LOSSES AT Irish pension funds mounted in July, with all the main managed fund providers reporting negative growth.

The average managed fund slipped 1.2 per cent last month, bringing average losses for the year to date to 2.7 per cent of the value of funds.

In relative terms, Zurich Life was the best performer in July, dipping just 0.4 per cent over the month, compared to a fall of 1.8 per cent at Aviva Investors.

Losses over the year to date range from 1.6 per cent at Irish Life Investment Managers to 4.9 per cent at Merrion Investment Managers. A strong finish to 2010 means that funds are still showing positive returns over the last 12 months, with average returns of 3.8 per cent.

However, the performance over the longer term remains poor with just Zurich (0.6 per cent per annum) and Standard Life (0.1 per cent per annum) reporting any growth over the last five years. As a group, managed pension fund providers have recorded losses of 1.5 per cent on average each year over the past five years.

While there has been some growth over the more important 10-year term, it has failed to keep pace even with inflation. The average annual return of 1.1 per cent is just half the inflation rate over the same period.

Only Zurich Life, with an average return of 2.9 per cent per annum over the past decade, has bettered inflation and Kleinwort Benson Investors actually reported a loss of 0.7 per cent on average per annum over the period.