Irish pension funds gained 2.7% on average during July. Aviva Investors turned in the best performance this month with a gain of 3.6%, while Merrion Investment Managers delivered the worst, with a return of 1.6%.

2016 has been a somewhat disappointing year so far, with pension funds up just 0.4% on average over the first seven months. This camouflages a wide range of performances, however, as returns for the year to date ranged from 6.2% (Setanta Asset Management) to -5.2% (Merrion Investment Managers), representing a difference of over 11% between the best and worst performing funds in just seven months. Over the past twelve months the average fund return was a disappointing -2.3%, with all bar one manager delivering negative returns. Setanta Asset Management top the table over the past year with a return of 4.7%, while Merrion Investment Managers produced the lowest return at -7.5%.

The average managed fund return has been a strong 10.7% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a healthy 11.1% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been 4.7% per annum on average.