Modest growth in pensions

IRISH pension funds enjoyed modest growth during July, a more balanced performance than the 10.7% which separated the top and bottom funds for the first six months of 2010.

The latest InVision survey of Irish pension funds by global HR services company Hewitt Associates showed a wide range of performances across the different funds. The Standard Life GARS fund is the top performing multi-asset fund, with a year to date performance of +6.5% through the end of June. The Friends First/F&C Diversified Growth is the poorest performing year to date, returning -4.2%.

However, Hewitt anticipates that the imminent figures for July will show that most funds enjoyed steady, modest growth. Global equities markets rose +1.69% and eurozone bonds increased by +1.34%. Funds with higher exposure to eurozone equities will benefit this month, as it was the best performing region with returns of +6.45%.