Elan 'wipes €400m off Irish pension funds'

Mercer Investment Consulting today estimated that approximately €400m has been wiped off the value of Irish pension assets in the first quarter because the recent dramatic falls in Elan's share price.

Tom Geraghty, senior consultant with Mercer Investment Consulting said: "The dramatic rise and fall of Elan serves to highlight the stock specific risk in the Irish market. The top 10 companies in the ISEQ made up about 80% of the index on December 31, 2004, with the top five companies representing 60% of the index.