Hewitt reports negative Irish returns
5 August 2008

Written by Sophie Baker

July 2008 has been another disappointing month for Irish pension managed funds with a return of -2.6 per cent, according to the Hewitt Managed Fund Index survey.

The return was the same as the average manager in the survey, and although continuing market volatility has resulted in a wide dispersion of returns, a year to date the difference between the top and bottom performing manager was 5.4 per cent over the seven months.

Canada Life/Setanta was the best performing manager over the month at -1.1 per cent, yet their return over the last year has been -16.9 per cent. Eagle Star retains the top position over three and five years with returns of 1.9 per cent per annum and 7.3 per cent per annum respectively.

Evelyn Ryder, director at Hewitt Associates, commented: “Irish Pension Managed Funds for the first seven months of the year have dropped an average of 17.2 per cent, dragging the 12 months return down below 20 per cent. Irish fund managers holding over ten per cent of their portfolios in Irish stocks would not have helped, with the Irish market down 16 per cent over the month of July.”