Crossing the Rubicon

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Irish Pension Managed Funds Rebound Strongly Over Second Quarter

Following on from the worst quarterly losses in over a decade in Q1, markets rallied strongly during the second quarter to recover much of their Covid-19 induced losses. Irish pension managed funds gained 13.5% on average during the three months to the end of June. Merrion Investment Managers topped the table over the quarter, with a return of 19.5%, while Setanta Asset Management lagged the peer group with a return of 9.8%.

This strong quarterly performance came as June rounded out three consecutive months of gains. On average, Irish pension managed funds returned 1.9% during June, with returns ranging from 3.7% (Merrion Investment Managers) to 1.2% (Setanta Asset Management). Over the first half of 2020, Irish pension managed funds have lost an average of 4.4%. This headline figure conceals a wide range of returns, however. Of the funds surveyed, Merrion Investment Managers’ delivered the best performance over the year to date, with a return of 7.2%, while New Ireland’s underperformed the rest of the peer group, with a return of -13.0%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds have delivered a 2.4% gain on average. Returns for the past year ranged from +11.7% (Merrion Investment Managers) to -6.8% (New Ireland and Setanta Asset Management).

The average managed fund return has been 4.4% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is a modest 4.2% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years, however, have been a rather healthier 8.3% per annum on average.