Irish pension managed funds continued to edge upwards during April, albeit slowly, gaining 0.4% on average over the month. Standard Life Investments topped the table over the month, with a return of 0.9%, while Merrion Investment Managers lagged the peer group over this period, with a return of 0.2%.

Managed funds have gained a very respectable 4.3% on average over the first four months of 2017. Standard Life have achieved the highest return so far this year, with a return of 5.9%, while Merrion Investment Managers have delivered the lowest return over the four months at 2.6%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds have delivered a very healthy 14.1% return on average. This figure masks a wide range of performances, however, as returns for the past year ranged from 16.8% (Zurich Life) to 9.5% (Merrion Investment Managers).

The average managed fund return has been 11.1% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a strong 11.8% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been 4.5% per annum on average.