Only two managers of Irish pension funds have achieved returns of more than 10 per cent in the year to date, according to an investment review carried out by Becketts Employee Benefits Consultants. The latest issue of Becketts' Pension Fund Investment Review is based on investment performance statistics for group managed pension funds to September 30th, 2000. The top performer for the year to date is Canada Life/Setanta, with a return of 13 per cent, comfortably above the median of 5.4 per cent.

Montgomery Oppenheim retains the number one spot for the benchmark periods of three and five years, with returns of 21.6 per cent and 24.4 per cent per annum respectively. The figures show that while returns for the 12 months to September 2000 are averaging 21.6 per cent, the figures are significantly influenced by the performance achieved in the final quarter of 1999. The year-to-date numbers are meagre by comparison, according to Becketts, and it is predicted that if the trend continues, it looks likely that 2000 will be a relatively poor year for pension fund investment returns.