Irish pension funds are likely to reduce the Irish equity content of their assets only very gradually over the next five years, according to a survey by the Irish Association of Pension Funds.

Pension funds currently account for some £31 billion (€39 billion), of which £8 billion is invested in Irish equities. The average Irish equity content of pension funds at the end of 1998 was 29 per cent, and according to the IAPF this proportion is likely to fall to 27 per cent at end-1999, 25 per cent at end-2000, 24 per cent at end 2001, 23 per cent at end-2002 and 22 per cent at end-2003.

The IAPF survey shows that four out of five company pension schemes provide defined benefits rather than defined contributions.