When seeking to discover the best pension fund manager performance, make sure your source of information is fully transparent, unbiased, and displays its independent source.
Also, before actually choosing funds, it is important to factor in charges for a much truer comparison and to personalise your eventual selection, aligned to risk tolerance, style preference, time horizon, and ESG preferences.
Drawdown (a peak-to-trough decline during a specific period for an investment) also creates a considerable difference in human behaviour, so the concept of hedging risk by using a combination of fund mangers and or funds, can also pay dividends over time.
Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves about risk and reward, before diving into broad based fund performance comparisons. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), introduced fund risk ratings to protect investors back in Jan 2011. These ratings run from very low ESMA 1 to very high ESMA 7, but for the purposes of the tables below, we are displaying the most typical risk tolerance, amongst pension and post-retirement investors, ESMA 4 & ESMA 5, as defined below:
- ESMA 4 – Medium risk investors: likely to accept significant risk in return for the potential of good investment gains over the long-term. Accept significant fluctuations in the investment value, particularly over the short-term, but want to limit the amount of money held in more risky investments. Such funds normally carry a target volatility range of 5-10% over a rolling five year period.
- ESMA 5 – Medium to high risk investor: likely to understand that the investment can go down and up sharply, particularly in the short term, with the potential for greater returns over the long term. Such funds normally carry a target volatility range of 10-15% over a rolling five year period.
Best Pension Fund Manager – Pertinent Facts:
- All funds carry a risk rating and volatility range, but may not be managed to stay within it.
- Some funds are more growth orientated and others more value leaning in the equity space.
- Different funds carry different charging levels, so these must also be carefully reviewed.
- Pre and post-retirement investments need different approaches in terms of risk management.
There is no single leading fund of fund manager, for every risk level and time horizon, and it goes without saying, that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
However, consistent long-term performance does provide some indication over the same investment time horizon, provided that you’re comparing like-for-like volatility ranges and allowing for charges.
Charges are not uniform and just because a fund sits within the same ESMA rating, does not mean that its standard deviation (volatility) will mirror that of its competitors.
Best Pension Fund Manager Comparison – Golden Rules:
- The risk level must be the same when comparing funds.
- Time horizon is a key factor in any pension investment consideration.
- Charges are not uniform across different provider funds, so must be factored in.
Now that I’ve explained how dangerous it can be to rely on the first page to pop up under a Google search, without properly sourced unbiased information, for simplicity, I have outlined the top 5 average annualised and cumulative returns for the leading medium risk (ESMA 4) and medium to high risk (ESMA 5) funds, currently available in Ireland.
However, remember these are gross returns before charges, and different charges applying to different funds, may well change positionings, and that charges are fixed whilst past returns are indicative and not in any way guaranteed.
I’ve outlined the 5 top performing funds over 10 years, but have also detailed more recently launched funds over 5 years.
Active – Multi-asset Performance – 10-Year Medium Risk – (vol: 5-10%)
| Fund | Cumulative | Average |
| 1st Irish Life – Diversified Balanced | 93.29% | 6.81 % PA |
| *2nd Zurich – Prisma 4 | 89.39% | 6.59% PA |
| 3rd New Ireland – ifunds 4 – Alpha | 76.98% | 5.87% PA |
| 4th Irish Life – MAPS 4 | 76.46% | 5.84% PA |
| 5th New Ireland – Evergreen | 73.00% | 5.60% PA |
Notes:
- Irish Life Diversified Balanced Fund carries the highest management charge of all 5 listed.
- *Zurich Prisma 4 the latest 5yr vol numbers would see it being >10%.
- Irish Life Maps funds combine a blend of active and passive management.
Active – Multi-asset Performance – 10 Year Med to High Risk – (vol 10-15%)
| Fund | Cumulative | Average |
| *1st Zurich – Prisma 5 | 144.86% | 9.36% PA |
| 2nd Irish Life – Diversified Growth | 139.79% | 9.14% PA |
| 3rd Aviva – Cantor Multi-asset 70 | 118.11% | 8.11%% PA |
| 4th New Ireland – iFunds 5 | 108.41% | 7.62% PA |
| 5th New Ireland – Pensions Managed | 102.00% | 7.28% PA |
Notes:
- Irish Life Diversified Growth Fund carries the highest management charge of all 5 listed.
- *Zurich Prisma 5 the latest 5yr vol numbers would see it being >15%.
Active – Multi-asset Performance – 5 Year Medium Risk – (Vol 5-10%)
| Fund | Cumulative | Average |
| 1st New Ireland – GDI 4 | 50.55% | 8.53% PA |
| 2nd *Zurich – Prisma 4 | 41.08% | 7.13% PA |
| 3rd Irish Life – Div Balanced | 38.08% | 6.67%PA |
| 4th New Ireland – ifunds 4 Alpha | 37.62% | 6.59% PA |
| 5th Irish Life – Maps 4 | 34.29% | 6.07% PA |
Notes:
- New Ireland’s GDI 4, Fund carries the highest management charge of all 5 listed, but includes downside protection to manage its volatility.
- Irish Life Maps funds combine a blend of active and passive management.
- *Zurich Prisma 4 the latest 5yr vol numbers would see it being >10%.
Active – Multi-asset Performance – 5 Year Med to High Risk – (vol 10-15%)
| Fund | Cumulative | Average |
| 1st Aviva – Cantor Multi-asset 70 | 71.78% | 11.43% PA |
| 2nd *Zurich – Prisma 5 | 64.85% | 10.51% PA |
| 3rd Irish Life – Diversified Growth | 58.88% | 9.70% PA |
| 4th New Ireland – Pensions Managed | 51.47% | 8.66% PA |
| 5th Zurich – Balanced Fund | 49.06% | 8.31% PA |
Notes:
- Irish Life Diversified Growth Fund carries the highest management charge of all 5 listed.
- *Zurich Prisma 5 the latest 5yr vol numbers would see it being >15%.
Additional Notes:
- Performance dates are taken on 24/02/2025.
- Independent information source: Longboat Analytics
- Always insist on fully transparent charges, the TER and not just the AMC.
Key Takeaway
- The best value indicator is down to cost and performance combined.
- No single insurance firm or fund manager tops all tables all of the time.
- Rather than a single fund choice, a combination of fund managers, funds, and fund strategies can often be the best approach.
- Volatility must be considered as it influences human behaviour.
Discover more about our unbiased pension advisory investment philosophy.
Speak with a Financial Advisor
To arrange your free no-obligation consultation contact us today. Contact: Ken O’Gorman – Director – QFA, CB, RPA, SIA – Retirement Specialist – One Quote Financial Brokers on: 01 845 0049 or email: ken@onequote.ie
Or enquire online and give us a quick outline of how we can help.
