The turmoil in world markets took its full toll on Irish pension funds in the third quarter of the year, with the average return falling by 12.4 per cent, according to figures from Mercer and Irish Pensions Trust. But the returns for the year to the end of September are still well into positive territory, with an average return of 8.6 per cent.
In the third quarter, the best performer by far was Eagle Star with a negative return of 8.1 per cent while the worst performers were Canada Life and the newcomer to the Irish market, Baillie Gifford, which both had a negative return of 15.8 per cent.
In the year to September, Eagle Star also headed the rankings with a positive return of 13 per cent while the worst was Canada Life with just 2.2 per cent.
Pensions are, however, best assessed on their long-term performance and over five years the average annual return was 14.9 per cent. Eagle Star is again the top performer with a 19.1 per cent annual return and Canada Life the worst with 11.8 per cent. Over 10 years, the average annual return is 12.2 per cent - GRE Life is top performer with 13.2 per cent and Irish Life bottom with 11.2 per cent.
