All too often Ireland seems to lag its competitors in the economic arena, too small to carry much clout and, until recently, too backward to be seen as a beacon of best practice.

How pleasant then to read that a recent study of pension fund performance by the EU Commission put Irish fund managers ahead of the rest. Apparently, over the 14 years to 1998, Irish managers produced a real return on investment of 12.54 per cent - two percentage points clear of their nearest rival, the US, with Britain in third at 10.35 per cent.

The next time you feel like lambasting the performance of your pension fund manager, spare a thought for the poor Swiss. Real returns there over the same 14-year period were a lowly 4.9 per cent.

A result of the Irish performance is a recommendation to extend freedom of investment for pension funds - currently practised by the best performers - throughout Europe.

You can see why when you compare the figures above.