Although Hibernian Life was the best performer in January of this year with a return of 2.8 per cent, it trailed behind its peers in 2005, finishing 2.1 per cent below the average.

Chief investment officer Roy Asher explains that while Hibernian Life may have lagged behind in terms of relative return, it considers itself to be "more cognisant of risk" than its competitors.

For example, the company "took a bit of risk off" during the year by taking out an insurance policy protecting it from a potential setback in equities.

However, Mr Asher admits that the cost of the insurance policy had "pared back performance a little".

The company favoured European equities over the United States, which was "a good call in terms of markets", says Mr Asher.

The fund was also overweight in the Irish equity market, and Mr Asher emphasises that Hibernian Life has always been supportive of the domestic market.

He says it has had a policy during the past few years of being "considerably overweight" in this region, although to a lesser extent more recently.

However, its underweight position in bonds was "slightly costly".

Mr Asher also says that, in hindsight, the company ran too high in cash.

"Last year everything went up," he says, pointing out that while risk controls are necessary, the high cash weighting worked against the company last year.

The fund was "marginally overweight" in property.

Mr Asher explains that its main source of exposure to property was in the Irish commercial sector.

However, he says that finding worthwhile investment opportunities was difficult.