Portuguese pension funds achieved an estimated return of 1.8 per cent in December, closing the year with an estimated return of -0.3 per cent, according to Mercer Portugal.

The average return of pension funds was positive in December due to the good performance of equities and bonds, in particular the bonds with longer maturities and higher credit quality. In 2011, pension funds had positive returns in January, February, April, May, October and December and negative returns in the other six months.

Market performance in 2011 was marked by investors’ reactions to the discussions and actions taken by economic and political institutions to solve the sovereign debt crisis, lack of market liquidity and lack of economic growth, Mercer said. The markets reacted positively to central banks’ frequent capital injections in the market and the introduction of spending cuts by individual countries.

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