IRISH PENSION funds have lost more than 10 per cent of their value in the past year, according to figures published yesterday.

All managed funds lost further ground last month after sliding by an average of 6.7 per cent in January - the worst fall in a single month since September 2002. In February, the average decline was 1.3 per cent.

The poor performance over the last 12 months means that, over the past 10 years, the average Irish managed pension fund is only barely ahead of inflation.

"The average fund return over the last decade has been a disappointing 4.1 per cent per annum , just 0.4 percentage points ahead of inflation over the same period," said Fiona Daly, managing director of Rubicon Investment Consulting. In fact, half the funds have fared worse than inflation over that period with KBC Asset Management's 2.9 per cent annual return propping up its peers.

Oppenheim remains the star performer over this longer term, which is more relevant for pension investments, with an annual return of 6.1 per cent. Next best is Eagle Star at 4.5 per cent.

Over the past year, however, all funds are in negative territory with an average return of -10.5 per cent. Raymond Bourke, of pension consultants Hewitt Associates, said the performance compares to a gain of 10.8 per cent for the previous 12 months.

In February alone, pension funds reported an average loss of 1.3 per cent although there was a wide divergence in performance. Standard Life fared best, slipping 0.3 per cent. At the other extreme, Friends First/F&C slipped 2.6 per cent, bringing is slide since the new year to double digits.