Irish pension managed funds mostly lost ground during May, declining 0.6% on average over the month. Standard Life Investments topped the table over the month, with a return of 0.5%, while Setanta Asset Management lagged the peer group over this period, with a return of -0.6%.

Managed funds have still gained a respectable 3.7% on average over the first five months of 2017. Standard Life have achieved the highest return so far this year, with a return of 6.5%, while Merrion Investment Managers have delivered the lowest return over the year to date at 1.5%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds have delivered a healthy 10.5% return on average. This figure masks a wide range of performances, however, as returns for the past year ranged from 13.5% (New Ireland) to 5.3% (Merrion Investment Managers).

The average managed fund return has been 9.9% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a strong 12.1% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been 4.1% per annum on average.