Table of Contents

Best Performing Irish Life Funds (5 years)

Worst Performing Irish Life Funds (5 years)

Compare Popular Irish Life Pension Funds

FAQs

Saving for retirement is something we should all be doing. But what happens if you’re contributing a percentage of your salary to the wrong pension fund?

Unfortunately, this is a reality for many in Ireland, and a shocking number of people have no idea that their contributions are going into underperforming funds.

The difference between the best and worst performing Irish Life pension funds is huge, and the positive news is that you’re not stuck with your current fund.

If you wish to compare the performance of other funds or discover how your current fund has been performing, visit our dedicated page here which lists the performance of every Irish Life fund available.

Fees and charges are not included in the data in this article, and we highly recommend speaking to a financial advisor to find out about the funds that are most suited to your personal circumstances.

The best performing Irish Life pensions over the past five years have been high equity funds, often with high allocations to equities in tech companies.  

The top performing funds over the period have been high risk funds, with ESMA risk rating profiles of 6. 

This is in line with other providers, where the highest 5-year growth has been dominated by funds with risk ratings of 5 or 6.

Unlike the top performing Irish Life funds, the worst performing funds over 5 years have not been high equity funds. Numerous government bond funds recorded negative growth during the past five years, as well as some property funds.

Portfolios with high bond allocations are seen as lower risk, while equities are high risk funds as they are chasing higher growth targets. But it is clear from the figures above that there is no such thing as a risk-free investment.

Comparing Irish Life MAP Funds

Irish Life’s Multi-Asset Portfolio (MAP) funds are among the provider’s most popular and well-known funds. They are diverse portfolios, made up of a mix of different assets and each fund is rated according to Irish Life’s risk rating scale of 1 to 7.

This makes clear the volatility associated with each fund which can make the process of choosing a fund and de-risking as you get closer to retirement more straightforward.

Pension Fund  Irish Life Risk Rating Fund Explorer Page
Irish Life Multi Asset Portfolio 2 2 (Low Risk) View Fund
Irish Life Multi Asset Portfolio 3 3 (Moderately Low Risk) View Fund
Irish Life Multi Asset Portfolio 4 4 (Moderate Risk) View Fund
Irish Life Multi Asset Portfolio 5 5 (Moderately High Risk) View Fund
Irish Life Multi Asset Portfolio 6 6 ( High Risk) View Fund

FAQs

There are two main ways that you can compare Irish Life pension funds – view the fact sheet of individual funds, or use our pension fund explorer. Speaking to a financial advisor is always the best way to make sure you are making accurate comparisons.

There are dozens of different Irish Life pension funds available, including those packaged as PRSAs. A number of funds have recorded positive growth of over 100% over the past 5 years.

Fees, charges and risk tolerance, as well as performance, must be considered before deciding on the right pension fund for your personal circumstances. There is no perfect fund that suits everyone.

A pension fund’s past performance cannot determine its future performance – but it is recommended that you pay attention to performance occasionally. This ensures your fund is not underperforming over time and allows you to make changes if necessary.

We recommend that you review your pension fund’s performance every five years at least. As you get closer to retiring, you might even want to review your pension with an advisor every few years to ensure everything is in order.