Irish pension managed funds declined 1.6% on average during October. Friends First delivered the best performance this month with a return of -0.8%, while Davy Asset Management delivered the worst, with a return of -2.2%.

Irish pension managed funds have lost an average of 3.5% over the first ten months of 2020. 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 9.3%, while New Ireland’s underperformed the rest of the peer group, with a return of -14.6%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds are broadly flat, having delivered a 0.2% loss on average. Returns for the past year ranged from +11.5% (Merrion Investment Managers) to -11.0% (New Ireland).

The average managed fund return has been 3.3% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is 4.4% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been a healthy 8.0% per annum on average.