Irish pension managed funds returned to growth during September, having declined during August, with an average return of 2.2% for the month. Standard Life Investments took top spot with a return of 3.1% for the month, while Setanta Asset Management propped up the league table with a return of 1.3%. Over the third quarter of 2013, the average managed fund gained 4.0%.

Over the quarter, the Standard Life Investments fund delivered the top-ranking return of 5.5%, while the Setanta Asset Management managed fund was the lowest ranked, with a return of 2.4%. With gains in seven of the nine months of the year so far, managed funds have now returned 11.0% on average in 2013. Setanta Asset Management delivered the strongest return over the year to date at 13.4%, while Prescient Investment Managers produced the weakest return, gaining 9.4% over the same period.

Over the past twelve months, the average fund return was 13.2%. Returns for the year ranged from 15.3% (Setanta Asset Management) to 11.0% (Prescient Investment Managers).

Fiona Daly, managing director, Rubicon Investment Consulting, said: "The average managed fund return has been a healthy 9.0% per annum over the past three years. The five-year average return is 6.9% per annum. Irish group pension managed fund returns over the past ten years have been 5.4% per annum on average, compared with the Irish inflation rate of 1.7% per annum over the same time horizon. All of the managed funds surveyed outperformed inflation over this period."

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