Irish pension funds rise by 1.4% in Q2

The average Irish Pension Managed Fund increased by 1.4% over the second quarter of the year, bringing the year to date return to 5.3%, according to the latest figures by Mercer Investment Consulting.

Canada Life/Setanta and Hibernian Managed Funds, both returning 2.1%, led the way over the quarter, while Eagle Star (+0.1%) and KBCAM (0.3%) lagged their competitors.

Over the six months, AIBIM’s new Multimanager Fund and Irish Life’s Global Access Fund were the best performers, returning 7.2% and 6.4% respectively.

The underperformers for this period were KBCAM (3.0%) and AIBIM Managed Fund (+3.9%), against an average return of 5.3%.

After a volatile quarter in equity markets, global equities rose 1.5% overall, with the majority of this occurring in June.

Most equity indices recorded strong returns over the quarter with the exception being Far Eastern equity markets.