Ireland’s National Pension Helpline has launched the first-ever online pension comparison platform in Ireland, which tracks the performance of hundreds of pension funds.

The Irish Pension Fund Explorer is a free comparison tool with real-time data on 597 pension funds, aimed at promoting transparency within the industry and allowing people to make better investment decisions.

The searchable database can be used to compare each fund’s growth, risk exposure, where its assets are located, and the holding companies involved.

It provides clear comparisons between two or more funds with interactive graphs and charts, allowing savers to view multiple funds’ value and performance side by side, as well as other key stats such as management fees.

Various funds from the same pension provider can also be pitted against each other to compare how each fund is faring, with users being able to toggle between different timeframes to get a clear picture of performance over time.

There are 10 significant pension fund operators in Ireland: Zurich, Irish Life, Aviva, New Ireland, Standard Life, Mercer, Acorn, Royal London, BOI and AIB.

Those wishing to invest have needed to go to each provider individually or ask a broker to help them compare funds, whereas the Pension Fund Explorer allows people to view every portfolio from every provider available in Ireland in one location.

The tool is free, and no registration or personal details are required, giving everyone equal access to the data.

Speaking at the launch, National Pension Helpline managing director, James Dorrian, said: “This new platform is a major milestone in making the pension industry more transparent and easier for the public to navigate the hundreds of funds that are available.

“The National Pension Helpline was set up out of frustration for how hard it is for the average person in Ireland to get the information they need when it comes to investing in their pension.

“This first-of-its-kind public resource allows users to compare the performance, asset allocations and risk profiles of hundreds of individual pension funds.

“We believe that this data should be freely available without people having to trudge through and compare hundreds of documents, and the Fund Explorer enables people to compare every fund under one roof.

“Investing in the wrong fund can cost you in retirement, and similarly, smart investments have a compounding effect, which means that even small monthly contributions can grow into a substantial pension pot in the future.

“We make no claims that past performance can predict future outcomes; however, our independently sourced data can certainly give people a taste of how each fund is performing against other funds, either from the same provider or different providers.”

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