Irish pension returns continue to struggle as market jitters over nuclear fallout from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami knocked returns in March.

The value of the average Irish managed pension fund slipped by 2.4 per cent last month, dragging the average return for the first quarter of the year down to -0.9 per cent, according to figures supplied by Rubicon Investment Consulting.

The gain over the past year is just 4.1 per cent, not enough to offset setbacks in previous years. As a result of the poor start to the year, Irish pension funds are once again reporting negative per-annum returns for the past three and five years.