Pensions Reserve Fund rallies after two strong quarters

IRELAND’S National Pensions Reserve Fund Discretionary Portfolio has enjoyed two successive strong quarters, rallying strongly after a sluggish start to 2009.

The fund earned a return of 11.7% in the three months to end September, compared to a return of 4.2% for the six-month period to June. Since inception, the annualised performance of the Discretionary Portfolio is 2.2%. The second quarter of the year saw a 12.2% return, followed by 16.4% for the three months to September.

Of course, the above figures only look so healthy because they exclude the unprecedented use of the reserve fund to bail out Ireland’s beleaguered banks. A total of €7 billion was split equally between Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.