Pension Fund Statistics – Q3 2022

Publication Date: January 5 2023

Key Points

• Total assets of the Irish pension fund sector fell by 2.5 per cent (€3 billion) over Q3 2022 to stand at €117 billion. This continues a trend across the year to date with assets down 14.9 percent on the series high of €137 billion at end-2021.
• Technical reserves relating to pension entitlements of Irish pension funds decreased in Q3 2022. ¹ Defined contribution (DC) technical reserves fell as a result of falls in corresponding asset values. Defined benefit (DB) technical reserves fell predominantly due to increases in discount rates.² The reduction in liabilities exceeded the fall in assets, contributing to a further improvement in sector net worth.
• All of the main pension fund asset types experienced negative price changes throughout 2022. This quarter has seen a lesser decline across debt securities, investment funds and pension fund reserves relative to Q2 2022. Equities have continued to experience larger falls. 

Summary Charts

Chart 1: Total assets of Irish pension funds by instrument type

Chart 2: Technical reserves and net worth of Irish pension funds

Chart 3: Asset type price changes

[1] In the pension fund context technical reserves are liabilities relating to claims on pension funds by households and assets relating to claims on insurance corporations by pension funds

[2] Data relating to defined benefit technical reserves and net worth are reported on an annual basis, values for other quarters are estimated and subject to revision on receipt of latest annual data.