Irish pension funds experienced their worst month since January 2016 with a scary performance during October, resulting in an average loss of 4.2% over the month. Davy Asset Management turned in the best performance this month with a return of -3.1%, while Merrion Investment Managers delivered the worst, with a return of -5.5%.

October’s losses effectively eroded all of the gains made so far this year, leaving pension funds flat over the year to date on average. Returns for the first ten months of 2018 ranged from 3.2% (Davy Asset Management) to -2.4% (Merrion Investment Managers). Over the past twelve months the average fund return was just 0.3%. Davy Asset Management top the table over the past year with a return of 3.7%, while Merrion Investment Managers produced the lowest return at -3.9%.

The average managed fund return has been a lacklustre 4.1% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a healthy 8.0% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been strong, at 9.0% per annum on average.