The National Pensions Reserve Fund has invested €6 billion in the markets over the course of 2002, at a time when most markets were falling, the annual report showed today.
A further €2.3 billion has been held in cash due to the equity market turmoil.
The report also shows, however, that the fund is now showing a negative return.
By December 2001, the fund had grown by 3.27 per cent. By the end of June, however, it had reversed that gain and was showing a negative return of 3.95 per cent.
In addition, today’s figures only run until the end of June, and do not take July's major stock market crash as a factor.
The money has been invested in both equities and bonds, in an 80/20 split, and 15 fund managers have been allocated the money.
The largest portion, 29.7 per cent, has been invested in the passive eurozone equity portfolio, managed by Bank of Ireland Asset Management/State Street Global Advisors and Barclays Global Advisors.
The Chairman of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission, Mr Donal Geaney also confirmed that the fund had invested in Elan shares with a resulting estimated loss of €13m.
Mr Geaney said he had been asked to do a job and felt he had done a good one. No one he said has said, had contacted him personally about considering his position.
There had been calls for his resignation before his departure from Elan Corporation, where he had been chairman, following the collapse in the company's share price.
Elan's most recent annual report shows Mr Geaney owned 1.1 million shares in Elan at the end of last year, a holding that would then have netted more than $49 million (€49.38 million), before their value collapsed earlier this year.