Pension Reserve Fund 5.1% return

Dublin: Ireland’s National Pension Reserve Fund earned a return of 5.1% in the first quarter, boosted by “advances in equity markets”.

The return excludes its investments in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks as part of a government bail-out of the lenders in 2009. The fund is now valued at€24.5 billion, including the bank stakes, it said.

The Directed Investment Portfolio secured a return of 4.2% over the quarter as the first annual dividend on the Bank of Ireland preference share investment was received. This dividend of €250.4m was received in Bank of Ireland ordinary shares, in lieu of cash, as the European Commission has requested that discretionary coupon payments on Tier 1 and Upper Tier 2 capital instruments in Bank of Ireland not be paid while it considers the bank’s restructuring plan.