National Pensions Reserve Fund

What is ‘National Pensions Reserve Fund’

The National Pensions Reserve Fund is a public pension fund established by the Republic of Ireland. The Government of Ireland makes annual deposits of 1% of GNP into the fund. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the fund has approximately $30.6 billion in assets under management.

Explaining ‘National Pensions Reserve Fund’

The National Pensions Reserve Fund was established in 2001. The goal of the fund is to support the monetary needs of Ireland’s social welfare and public service pensions from 2025 onwards. No withdrawals may be made from the fund until 2025. The fund’s target asset allocations are roughly 56% large cap equities, 5% small cap equities, 5% emerging markets equities, 10% private equity, 8% real property, 2% commodities, 13% bonds and 1% in currency.

Further Reading

  • The Case of the Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund – elibrary.worldbank.org [PDF]
  • National Pensions Reserve Fund System in Ireland and the Implications for China – en.cnki.com.cn [PDF]
  • The political economy of sovereign wealth funds – link.springer.com [PDF]
  • A model of the French pension reserve fund: what could be the optimal contribution path rate? – search.proquest.com [PDF]
  • Partisan politics and bureaucratic encroachment: the principles and policies of pension reserve fund design and governance – papers.ssrn.com [PDF]
  • The implications of the economic crisis for pensions and pension policy in Europe – journals.sagepub.com [PDF]