May Delivers Another Strong Month for Israeli Savings and Pension Funds

May was another very good month for savers in Israeli provident and pension funds, despite uncertainty surrounding the war with Iran. Markets rose, and so did returns, with the general provident fund track delivering a strong 2.2% in May, bringing year-to-date performance to 6.6% and a three-year return of 46.6%.

The equity track did even better, gaining 3.6% in May, 12.3% since the start of the year, and 88% over three years. By contrast, the track that mirrors the S&P 500 returned only 0.5% in May, lost 2.2% year to date, and is up 41% over three years. The report said the gap reflects the strength of the Israeli market in recent years and the roughly 20% drop in the dollar over the past two years, which has hurt the U.S.-linked track.

Among general provident funds in May, Analysts led with 2.8%, followed by Infinity with 2.6%, then Clal and Harel with 2.4% and 2.3%. At the bottom were Mor and Meitav, each with 1.8%. Since the start of the year, Clal leads with 8.2%, ahead of Infinity at 7.7%, Harel at 7.6%, and Analysts at 7.1%. Over three years, Infinity leads with 52%, followed by Analysts at 51.2% and Clal at 49.1%, while Harel and Altshuler Shaham trail with 42.6% and 40.8%.

In the equity track, Clal led May with 4.4%, followed by Analysts at 4.1% and Harel at 4%. Year to date, Clal leads with 15.5%, with Harel close behind at almost 15%, then Mor at 13.2% and Migdal at 13.1%. Over three years, Infinity leads with 95%, ahead of Clal, Migdal, and Meitav, while Altshuler Shaham is last with 73.3%.

In pension funds for savers age 50 and under, Infinity stood out in May with 3.7%, while Harel led among the large firms with 2.7% and Clal had 2.6%. Since the start of the year, Mor leads with 10.4%, followed by Infinity and Harel at 9.5% each and Clal at 9.4%. Over three years, Phoenix leads among the large firms with nearly 58%, ahead of Clal at 57% and Meitav at 56%, while Altshuler Shaham and Harel are at the bottom.