Pension investment recovers to show 21.8% average gain

PENSION INVESTMENT recovered from a dismal start to the year to record gains of 21.8 per cent, on average, in 2009.

A gain of 4.6 per cent in December rescued what had appeared to be a disappointing final quarter for Irish group-managed pension funds.

However, in the longer term, Irish pension fund returns are still struggling to beat inflation. Over the past decade, the average Irish fund has recorded a gain of just 0.3 per cent per annum.

This compares with average inflation over the same period of 2.9 per cent per annum, according to Fiona Daly, managing director of Rubicon Investment Consulting.

Not a single fund has bettered inflation over that last decade and four of the main pension fund providers – AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM), Aviva Investors (formerly Hibernian), Friends First/Foreign Colonial and KBC Asset Management (KBCAM) – have actually reported losses, on average, each year.

Merrion Investment Managers, formerly Oppenheim, which have been one of the strongest performers in the Irish market in recent times, headed their peers in 2009 with a gain of 29.6 per cent. Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM) with a gain of 25.6 per cent and Standard Life Investments (24.3 per cent) came next.

AIBIM were the poorest performer with a gain over the 12 months of just 13.7 per cent, well behind the 17.8 per cent return of the next lowest ranked KBCAM.

In December, Bank of Ireland Asset Management and KBCAM, which have generally underperformed recently, both produced the best return with a gain of 5 per cent.

The strong December performance raised the average return for the final quarter of 2009 to 3.3 per cent, with Canada Life/Setanta’s 4.7 per cent leading the way.

The stock market volatility of the past two years is evident in the three-year returns for the sector, which show an average annual loss of 8.2 per cent.

However, figures made available by Rubicon show Irish pension funds have made average annual returns of 6.9 per cent per annum over the past 20 years. Longer timeframes are generally more relevant in considering pension fund performance.