"In 2005, as is typical for Irish Life Investment Managers' managed pension funds, approximately 65 per cent of our outperformance is as a result of superior international equity stock selection," says Kieran Bristow, chief investment officer at Irish Life.
ILIM's managed fund finished in third place last year, with a return of 23 per cent, but its performance over the three-year period to the end of last month puts it right at the top of the table.
The fund managers at ILIM operate on the premise that the global equities market has the most room for outperformance, as this asset class typically accounts for approximately 55 per cent of Irish managed fund portfolios.
For this reason, they maintain an average weighting in the Irish market, as they feel the size of this market limits its potential for adding value. Mr Bristow explains the company's approach to investment management of international equities: "We are value investors, this forces us to investigate only those companies where the price is right; for ILIM, this means companies that are trading below our proprietary estimate of fair value," he says.
"Our key competitive advantage is our discipline in buying stocks when the crowd want to sell them and selling them when the crowd want to get back in. Being in this 'discomfort zone' is the key to our success."
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