IRISH PENSION funds recorded their best monthly performance in over 17 years in April, with the average group managed fund gaining 8.7 per cent in value.
A significant global stock market bounce, triggered by signs that governments are finally coming to grips with the credit crisis, was the main driver of improved returns last month.
Global stock markets rose by between 9 and 16 per cent in April, with the Irish market to which many domestic pension funds continue to remain overexposed doing even better.
For the first time since the current downturn arrived, pension funds have recorded two successive months of gains, and at the end of April the 2009 average performance was in the black for the first time.
Irish Life Investment Managers recorded an advance of 11.3 per cent in the month, with Merrion Investment Managers (formerly Oppenheim) also recording double-digit gains. Even AIB Investment Managers (AIBIM) which lagged its peers in April saw gains of 7 per cent. The April performance means that most funds have now made some gains for 2009 as a whole.
Merrion is now 7.3 per cent ahead over the first four months of the year compared with an industry average of 3 per cent. However, AIBIM is still in the red with a loss of 0.8 per cent so far in 2009. The market collapse in 2008 is still impacting heavily on funds’ 12-month performance. Eagle Star’s 22.6 per cent loss over that period remains the best return among its peer, with the average loss coming in at 27.2 per cent and Aviva Investors (formerly Hibernian Investment Managers) shedding 32.7 per cent of its value.
The average return over the three, five and 10-year periods is also negative – at 11.2 per cent, 1 per cent and 0.4 per cent per annum respectively. Only three fund managers have made any gains over the 10-year term.
