A survey of pension managed funds by Rubicon Investment Consulting has found Irish pension managed funds delivered negative returns during May.

The average return was -2.1% for the month.

Setanta Asset Management took top spot with a return of -1.3% for the month, while Irish Life Investment Managers propped up the league table with a return of -2.9%.

Over the first five months of 2012, managed funds have delivered a 4.9% return on average.

Over this period, the top performing fund was that of Standard Life Investments, which returned 7.1%.

The worst performing fund over the first five months of the year was that of Irish Life Investment Managers, which returned 2.8%.

Over the past twelve months, the average fund return was 0.8%.

Returns for the year ranged from 4.5% (Setanta Asset Management) to -4.3% (Irish Life Investment Managers).