Irish pension managed funds surged ahead, by 8.0% on average, during November. New Ireland delivered the best performance this month with a return of 10.9%, while Friends First delivered the worst, with a return of 6.6%.

As a result of November’s gains Irish pension managed funds are firmly back in the black, with an average return of 4.2% over the first eleven 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 gain of 18.3%, while New Ireland’s underperformed the rest of the peer group, with a return of -5.3%. Over the past twelve months, Irish pension managed funds are up a respectable 5.1% on average. Returns for the past year ranged from +18.6% (Merrion Investment Managers) to -4.6% (Setanta Asset Management).

The average managed fund return has been 6.1% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is 5.3% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been a healthy 8.7% per annum on average.