Pension Fund Statistics
Balance sheet (assets and liabilities) data for pension funds resident in Ireland (ESA 2010 sector S129) consists of financial corporations that principally engage in financial intermediation as a consequence of pooling social risks and providing for income in retirement. In Ireland, a pension fund is an autonomous occupational pension scheme established under trust.
Key Points - Q4 2025
Publication Date: 20 March 2026
- Total assets of the Irish pension fund (PF) sector increased by 1.5 per cent in Q4 2025 to stand at €145 billion (Chart 1). This was driven by a continued upward trend in insurance technical reserves1, which grew by 3.5 per cent (€2.9 billion) over the quarter.
- Pension entitlements increased by 3.7 per cent on a quarterly basis in Q4 2025 to stand at €143 billion (Chart 2). Both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB)2 pension entitlements contributed to this growth, increasing by 3.9 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
- Investment fund shares/units constitute the second largest asset holding of the Irish pension funds sector and increased 0.5 per cent in Q4 2025. This holding is particularly prevalent for DB pension funds which account for 85.8 per cent of total sector investment fund shares/units in Q4 2025 (Chart 3). Holdings are primarily concentrated in bond (35%), equity (21%) and hedge funds (8.9%).
Summary Charts
Notes
[1] In the pension funds context insurance technical reserves (ITRs) are assets relating to claims on insurance corporations by pension funds (also known as pension fund reserves) while pension entitlement technical reserves are liabilities relating to claims on pension funds by households.
[2] Defined benefit technical reserves include hybrid schemes. Technical reserves are valued on an accounting standard basis. Defined benefit technical reserves and net worth are reported on an annual basis (at year end), values for other quarters are estimated and subject to revision on receipt of latest annual data.
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