Irish pension funds gained 0.7% on average during August. New Ireland turned in the best performance this month with a gain of 1.0%, while Merrion Investment Managers delivered the worst, with a return of 0.2%.

Two consecutive months of gains have somewhat boosted the returns for the year to date, with pension funds up 1.1% on average over the first eight months. This figure masks a wide range of performances, however, as returns for the year to date ranged from 6.9% (Setanta Asset Management) to -5.0% (Merrion Investment Managers), representing a difference of over 11% between the best and worst performing funds in just eight months. Over the past twelve months the average fund return was 4.6%. Setanta Asset Management top the table over the past year with a return of 10.0%, while Merrion Investment Managers produced the lowest return at -1.4%.

The average managed fund return has been a strong 11.3% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a healthy 12.6% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been 4.5% per annum on average.