At the end of last year pension funds had returned to their pre-crisis levels in most countries. This year, however, with the Euro zone crisis and other financial market issues, growing risks are making the outlook less clear.

The 2011 edition of OECD’s Pension Markets in Focus shows that in 2010 pension funds in most OECD countries recovered, on average, more than 80% of the money they had lost in 2008. The exceptions were Ireland, Japan, Portugal, Spain and the United States where the losses continued. Net returns grew an average of 2.7% in real terms across OECD countries, lead by increases in New Zealand, Chile, Finland, Canada and Poland but flattened somewhat by decreases in Portugal and Greece.

Public pension reserve funds also increased, from USD 4.6 trillion in 2009 to USD 4.8 trillion in 2010. Investment returns were, on average, lower in 2010 than in 2009 but still positive.