Rehab race players fall foul of turmoil in markets following September's US attacks

"Horrendous", is how one fund manager describes September's awful events in the US.

The ensuing four-day closure of Wall Street and the largest ever points fall on the Dow that greeted the resumption of trade, hit the participants in the Rehab Great Investment Race hard.

Five of the six teams bidding to make as much money as possible for Rehab over the course of a year notched up losses last month. Four are now in negative territory.

At the halfway mark, the overall €600,000 (£472,200) Rehab fund is worth just €4,625 more than at the start of the race.

That it is ahead at all is thanks mainly to Hibernian, the only participant in the race to emerge unscathed from the events that saw stock markets plummet worldwide.

Over the course of the month, the Dow lost 12 per cent of its value, the Nasdaq shed more than 15 per cent while the Irish stock market fell by 13 per cent.

Against this backdrop, Hibernian managed to turn in an impressive 7 per cent gain, taking its fund to €167,392, according to Mercer, the official monitor of the race.

"We were lucky to make two good calls in the month," says Hibernian fund manager Mr Pramit Ghose.

"We were fully invested in cash before September 11th and stayed in cash until the last week of the month when we thought markets were beginning to look oversold and we moved the money into our international equity fund."

Up 67.4 per cent since the race began, Hibernian's investment fund is now streets ahead of its competitors.

Bank of Ireland, which had showed signs of closing the gap in recent months, suffered heavily in September because of its focus on equities.

Its fund lost nearly 22 per cent of its value to stand at €106,897 from €136,918 at the end of August.

But at least it's still up, unlike the other four funds, which are all in the red.

Irish Life bore the brunt of the market collapse because of its equity exposure, with its fund losing nearly 28 per cent of its value to €61,632.

But fund manager Mr Seamus Magner is optimistic that he can bounce back.

The fund has already recovered some ground in October and is currently in cash while Mr Magner waits for the right opportunities.

Setanta also suffered, losing 10.5 per cent, while Friends First shed 6.6 per cent.

Pioneer was better insulated than the others, as its fund manager, Ms Anne Barker, had moved some 70 per cent of the money into cash and bonds in early September, limiting her equity exposure and her losses on the month to 2.2 per cent. At €88,212, the fund is in fourth position.

Views are mixed as to what the future holds for stock markets. Ms Barker believes it could "get worse before it gets better" and is sticking to the sidelines for the moment.

Hibernian intends to "start to progressively buy on bad days", although it expects markets to remain volatile.

Friends First fund manager Mr Gerry Mangan probably sums it up when he says "there will be opportunities to make and lose money".

Meanwhile, Rehab remains philosophical about the losses incurred in September, noting that it is pleased to see the race taking place at all.

"We really appreciate that the six participating teams were willing to give of their time and skills to help us in this way," says Mr John McGuire, managing director of Rehab Lotteries.

"It is this expression of philanthropy and volunteering from the financial services sector which is as important to us as are any funds which may be raised."

He also noted that, if the worst came to the worst, any losses suffered would be covered by the race sponsor.

jmosullivan@irish-times.ie