Irish pension fund returns turned negative in October for the first time in eight months, returning -2.5% on average.

The best performing managed fund in October was that of Canada Life/Setanta, which returned -1.1%. AIB Investment Managers propped up the league table with a -3.4% return for the month.

Returns are still positive for the year to date, with the average fund having gained 15.0% over this period.

In the ten months to the end of October, returns ranged from 22.2% (Merrion Investment Managers) to 7.8% (AIB Investment Managers), representing a difference of 14.4% between the best and worst performing managers so far this year. Over the past twelve months the average fund delivered 6.2%, with returns ranging from 12.1% (Merrion Investment Managers) to -0.9% (AIB Investment Managers).

Fiona Daly, managing director of Rubicon Investment Consulting commented: "The average managed fund return has been a very disappointing -9.0% per annum over the past three years. However, the five year returns to the end of October are once again positive on average, delivering a mean return of 0.9% per annum over this period.

Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been a disappointing 1.0% per annum on average, well below the Irish inflation rate of 3.0% per annum over the same time horizon. Indeed, only Merrion Investment Managers outperformed inflation over this period with a return of 3.4% per annum, while all of the other fund managers, except AIB Investment Managers and KBC Asset Management, delivered positive returns over 10 years."