Value of Irish pension funds increase by more than €10bn

The net worth of all pension funds grew by 8.4% during the first three months of this year

Although Irish pension funds increased to €128bn at the end of March, it is still down from €132bn at the same period last year. 

The total value of the Irish pension fund sector grew by €10.6bn during the first three months of the year but still lags behind the highs seen at the end of 2021, new data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows.

According to the data, there is €128bn in Irish pension funds of which nearly half, €60bn, is accounted for in pension reserve funds.

Investment funds account for nearly €43.8bn with the remaining pot split between investment funds, debt securities, and various other financial and non-financial assets.

The total pension entitlements comes to just over €116bn. 

Technical reserves relating to pension entitlements — the capital required to meet future claims from members — increased as well.

The Central Bank said this recent increase in pension funds “partially reverses” the trend in 2022 where the total pot of money was decreasing. Between October and December 2022, there was €117bn in pension funds.

The net worth of all pension funds grew by 8.4% during the first three months of the year.

The total funds peaked during the last three months of 2021 when there was €137bn in savings before it dropped to €132bn between January and March 2022.

In 2022, there were more than 1.5m members of these pension funds.