The Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) has published its first Pension Fund Investment Survey which includes questions on a number of issues relating to both the investment policy and practice of Irish pension funds.
According to the survey, in terms of funds under management, defined benefit schemes represent 83% of the assets. Giving the relatively small size of the typical Irish DB pension, 65% of these funds use just one investment manager. The average size of defined benefit schemes is approximately Ir£101m (e128m) while defined contribution plans represent just Ir£5m.
Defined contribution plans constitute just 14% of the total. The survey underlines that most DC plans offer just one fund manager to their members and 84% of them believe this is adequate. In terms of diversification, 75% of DC schemes offering just one type of fund also find this adequate. IAPF comments that one reason for these high figures may be the fact that defined contribution funds are still relatively new in Ireland.
It is relevant that when choice is offered to members, the trustees make available to the members some form of education regarding their fund choice, particularly where this involves selecting between fund types.About85% of funds currently meet this requirement and the majority rely on pension consultants to provide their service.
The information in this survey complement the IAPF annual benefits survey. The last edition, shows how most DB pensions schemes are integrated with the state pension while 69% of DC plans are not. Both surveys aim to offer investment guidelines for members. Paula Garrido

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