The Hewitt Managed Fund Index returned +4.4% for the month of December. The positive return for "December has brought the total return for 2009 on the average Irish Managed Fund to +20.7%. 2009 has been a good year overall for Irish Pension Managed Funds. After falling 8% in the first ten weeks of 2009, the performance of Irish Pension Managed Funds improved significantly over the balance of the year as global equity markets rebounded. Irish pension managed funds have gained 28% since the March lows though still have a long way to go to recover to the position that funds held in the middle of 2007. The performance of the Hewitt Managed Index over the last three years still remains negative at minus 8.1%" confirmed Brian Delaney, Investment Consultant at Hewitt Associates.

"Although 2009 has given some relief to embattled Irish pension funds, their longer term performance is still cause for disappointment for investors. The performance of the average Irish managed fund over the last ten years now stands at +1.1% per annum, lower than the Irish inflation rate of +2.8% per annum over the same period. Over a 5 year period, the average performance for Irish pension managed funds has been +1.5% per annum, just in line with inflation".

"Equity markets have rallied strongly since March and this rally continued in December, reflecting investor confidence in the economic recovery" stated Brian Delaney. "Global equity markets have rebounded 60% on average since March and this has helped the performance of Irish pension funds greatly. 2009 has proved to be the best year overall for Irish managed funds since 2005 and investors will hope that this strong performance will continue into 2010. The outlook for global equity markets remains uncertain. As governments and central banks start to consider scaling back the stimulus packages, the long term sustainability of the recovery will be brought into question", commented Brian Delaney.