The average UK pension fund recorded an average weighted return of 14.0 per cent for 2009, and almost all asset classes achieved positive returns, according to estimates by BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

The return for 2009 is the best recorded by BNY Mellon since 2005, and is an estimated real return of 14.9 per cent when measured against 2009's Retail Price Index, and 12.8 per cent when measured against the National Average Earnings Index.

The results for 2008 saw a less encouraging -13.6 per cent average return, the first negative yearly return recorded by BNY Mellon since the three-year downturn at the beginning of the noughties.

UK bonds, however, were negative in 2009 with a return of -1.2 per cent, but index-linked gilts returned 6.4 per cent over the same period. Property, however, struggled at -5.6 per cent.

"Following the worse annual return for over 30 years in 2008, pension funds clawed back most of those losses by the end of 2009, despite the poor start to the year," said Alan Wilcock, performance and risk analytics manager at BNY Mellon Asset Servicing.

Share Story: