The third quarter of 2009 was the best quarter for Irish pension funds since 1999, with funds seeing average returns of 11.8%.
The latest figures from consultants Rubicon show that for the seventh month in a row, pension funds delivered a positive performance in September, with a 2.6% average return.
The best performing fund last month was Irish Life Investment Managers, which saw growth of 3.1%. Friends First saw the weakest growth in the month at 2.1%.
Irish Life Investment Managers was also the best performing fund over the third quarter of the year, with returns of 14.7%. Aviva Investors saw the poorest performance, with returns of 10.6%.
Rubicon says that returns for the year to date are positive, with the average managed fund witnessing returns of 17.9%. In the nine months to September, returns ranged from 26.1% from Merrion Investment Managers to 11.6% from AIB Investment Managers.
However, over the past 12 months the average fund is still down 1.1%, and the average managed fund return has also been a 'disappointing' -7.4%, Rubicon states.
Rubicon said it was interesting to note that over the past seven months, funds have gained an average of 27.5%.
'Investors who may have moved out of equities at the end of 2008, in an attempt to avoid stock market turbulence, will have missed out on this bounce,' Rubicon said.
