Total assets in the Irish pension fund sector grew by €2bn (1.7 per cent) over the second quarter of 2023 to stand at €128bn, statistics from the Central Bank of Ireland show.

The bank said that this continues the growth observed during 2023 but assets remain down on the series high of €138bn at end-2021. Pension fund reserves experienced growth of €3.3bn (5.6 percent).

Technical reserves relating to pension entitlements also increased in Q2 2023: Defined contribution (DC) technical reserves grew by 6.8 per cent as a result of growth in corresponding asset values and defined benefit (DB) technical reserves grew only slightly on the quarter. Net worth remains positive at €6.4bn.

Total pension liabilities in Ireland at the end of Q3 2023 stood at €121bn, this is an increase of €4bn on the first quarter’s figures, which were €117bn.

The bank commented that the profile of pension entitlement liabilities varies across the euro area. For example, in Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands they are almost all DB), while in Spain, Italy and other countries they are almost all DC.

Ireland has a nearly even split between DB (52 per cent) and DC (48 per cent) as of Q2 2023. This may reflect both the recent reduction in DB technical reserve valuations due to increasing discount rates and a longer term move towards DC pension funds. In Q4 2021 this split was 61 per cent DB to 39 per cent DC.

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