Irish fund managers make international standard

Leading Irish fund managers are holding their own against international competition according to a new survey by investment consultants Mercer.

The company yesterday published the first of a new quarterly series assessing the performance of domestic and international fund managers. While the data show a considerable variation between the best and worst performers, there is no distinction between Irish managers and those from other markets.

Over the past 10 years, Newton Investment Management has been the best performer with average annual returns of 11.2 per cent. Bank of Ireland Asset Management is the second strongest player over the same period, according to Mercer, with a return of 11 per cent a year.

The weakest returns of the players who have been in the market for the past 10 years came from Barclays Global Investors, at 8.7 per cent per annum. The fund average was 9.8 per cent growth each year.

Over the same period, the Irish Stock Exchange recorded annual returns of 15.2 per cent while global indices saw growth of around 7.4 per cent annually.

In the short-term, Capital International 1 reported a gain of 21.9 per cent in the past 12 months compared to an average of 17.4 per cent and a worst of 13.1 for Rebeco Group. The Mercer report shows that the number of participants in the market has jumped from fewer than 10 a decade ago to 23 in the past year.

Mercer partner Mr Tom Geraghty said the objective of the survey was to provide Irish pension fund trustees and sponsors with as much information as possible to make informed decisions about the management of pension assets.

The trend towards specialist managers has increased the presence of international investment managers in the Irish market.