Irish pension managed funds gained just 0.1% on average during July. Merrion Investment Managers turned in the best performance this month with a return of 1.2%, while New Ireland delivered the worst, with a return of -1.6%.

Over the first seven months of 2020, Irish pension managed funds have lost an average of 4.2%. 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 8.5%, while New Ireland’s underperformed the rest of the peer group, with a return of -14.4%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds have delivered a 0.7% gain on average. Returns for the past year ranged from +11.5% (Merrion Investment Managers) to -9.2% (New Ireland).

The average managed fund return has been 4.7% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is 3.8% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been robust, at 8.1% per annum on average.