Investors who bought into the Smurfit Kappa flotation a year ago are down 50%. Business Plus reports on what's gone wrong Rising food prices mean more farmers planting crops, which is good news for investors in Origin BCP Tracker Funds Attract The Punters; Standard Adds ETFs To Synergy Suite Anglo Irish Bank has a serious perception problem because of its exposure to property lending CRH Tumbles On American Blues: Blue chip building materials group CRH has suffered a savage de-rating despite delivering the goods in 2007 Paddy Power turned in an amazing performance in 2007 but the share price has been hit by concerns that earnings growth will slow. Plus: Davy Sees Radio Upside For UTV; Broker Shortlist Of Takeout Candidates; Ryanair Investors At The Mercy Of Oil Prices Irish Life Targets Large Companies; Quintas Looks To Spain For Solar Energy Fund; Equity Market Falls Hammer Pension Funds; AIB Launches Asian Property Fund AIB Hammered By Grim Outlook; Investors Make Gains With Icon Standard Life Target Asia Growth; RaboDirect Trio Focus On Diverse Stocks; Bank of Ireland Life Financials Fund Many of the leading Irish shares have halved in value in the past seven months. They look cheap but beware the value trap. Business Plus assess the prospects for leading counters in the year ahead Why invest in Irish equities or ISEQ-weighted managed funds when the world is your oyster? Business Plus highlights some of the mega-gains that are being made in emerging markets funds. Also, Investment Strategies Exposed By Downturn BES investment facilitates income tax savings and pension planning. Business Plus explains how the combination of these two strands results in a very powerful tax planning mechanism Greencore - CEO David Dilger announces his retirement as the company's property play boosts share price; United Drug Not So Solid Anymore; Price Crash Follows Ryanair Liftoff; Bank Trims Back Growth Expectations; Property Sentiment Weighs On Anglo BIAM Focuses On Financials; Market Turmoil Slams Managed Funds; Standard Life Targets European Minnows; Natural Resources At A Discount Buying a leaseback holiday property in France is a fairly secure long-term property investment It used to be the case that you couldn't hold gold assets in a self directed pension. Now you can, though you can't actually touch the stuff Kingspan Suffers Rare Reverse; Goodbody Favours Minnow Datalex; DCC's Lacklustre Interim Results; Paddy Power Stays Aloof From Market Carnage; Boom And Bust Elan In Boom Mode; Providence Oil Still A Long Way Off; Brokers Downgrade Smurfit Kappa Liberty Asset Management Teams Up With Dolmen Securities And Friends First For Future FX Fund; CHC Markets Second Qualified Investor Fund; BIAM Seeks Alpha Returns For HNWIs; Euro Funds Better Than Managed Funds; Bank Opportunities Knocks At Irish Life Property insiders are confident that the market isn't heading for meltdown, as evidenced by Business Plus' Vox Pop on the following pages. First though, a reality check of some facts and figures Business Plus runs the rule over Getmobile, African Diamonds, C&C, Grafton and WorldSpreads to see if the shares are worth buying IIB Bank's Payout Portfolio Aimed At Gamblers; AIB Pension Managers Beat Market Slump; Lower Risk Fund From Eagle Star; Rabo Fund For Renewable Energy; Funds Gear Up For Invasion Of Italy; How Much Is Your Old Pension Worth? Self-invested retirement structures are the tax-efficient way of transforming surplus business cash into personal and family wealth Cpl Resources keeps delivering stellar earnings growth. So why has the share been marked down Bloxham Gears Up For Megacaps Revival; Get Into Germany With JP Morgan Relief from stamp duty for first time buyers is a great benefit. But explains who qualifies for the tax break? Irish share prices tumbled over the summer. Business Plus runs the rule over some casualties to see where the value lies Oppenheimer High Alpha fund; AIB Portfolio Combination tracker; Mercer urges pension funds to diversify; Synergy proves good for Standard Life; Canada Life's European property fund The C&C share has run out of steam but sell-offs and potential blue sky on the continent make it a natural to be snapped up Friends First Offers Slice Of Superquinn; Dolmen's Dozen Trips Up With C&C; RaboDirect Launches Four Morgan Funds Fancy prices being paid for security software firms have propelled the Norkom share to heady heights Investors in CRH have enjoyed a stunning gain over the past year. Can the share price keep going up Exploration success has reaped instant gains for lucky investors in Tullow Oil Water is a scarce resource so investing in funds that track water-related companies could prove worthwhile European Investment Bank' Climate Awareness Bond; Pension Funds Show Strong Growth; RaboDirect Unveils Two Henderson Funds; Anglo Irish Fund Has €1m Maximum Bank of Ireland has gone from hero to zero due to house market concerns. But is the sell-off overdone? An ethical investment fund can deliver good returns for investors who aren't willing to compromise for profit. Business Plus looks at Dolmen Securities Green Effects fund France's tax rebate scheme kicks you back 20% of the purchase price - so long as you agree to rent Eagle Star's Guaranteed Dynamic 100 Bond; Canada Life's Dividend Fund fourth anniversary; RaboDirect waives entry fees; Oppenheimer's BrightStar Bond not restricted by stockmarket indices; IIB Bank's new Blocks + Stocks tracker bond Business Plus runs the rule over McInerney, AIB, Paddy Power, Kerry, Newcourt, Zamano and Horizon following their 2006 results Self-employed people now have more choice when it comes to sourcing a sub-prime mortgage Old Mutual's mid cap fund is holding its own during turbulent times for equity markets China's stockmarket has rocked the world this year but the Chinese don't seem bothered and are still piling into their equities Davy Stockbrokers has nominated four high yielding stocks it believes will grow dividend income over the next few years Fund manager Oppenheim is sourcing new distribution channels after losing its mandate for the EBS suite of Summit funds National Irish Bank has shaken up the mortgage market with competitive pricing, forcing AIB to respond by cutting its rates SSIA savers looking for a safe bet for their newly arrived lump sum could consider one of Eagle Star's protected funds as a way to limit their level of risk You'd think that a mandate to pick any 20 of the world's best stocks should deliver good returns. That wasn't the case last year with Hibernian's Target 20 Most equity markets posted bumper gains through 2006 and outperformed managed pension funds over the course of the year The Irish stockmarket advanced by 17% from January to October 2006. Business Plus runs the rule over how the large caps gainers have performed Investors made big gains by investing in shares on the Irish Enterprise Exchange through The choice of UK quoted firms to invest in is bewildering. Standard Life's Harry Nimmo can point the way With Ryanair's earnings growth dependent on fuel prices, a takeover of Aer Lingus makes a lot of sense IAWS plc is showing big ambition in North America to crack the muffin market Despite poor half-year results, the Glanbia share has made impressive recent gains Oppenheim links up with IIB Bank for Titan bond; Canada Life's Multi Manager Funds; Liberty Asset Management rolls out new Flagship Fund IV October 31 is the annual tax deadline for self-employed people who pay their tax by Self Assessment. To cut that tax bill, a pension payment makes a lot of sense. But which pension? Private investors can speculate on crude oil pricing by buying into Exchange Traded Funds that track the commodity The Grafton share languished for much of 2005 but has been firming strongly since December 2005. Most brokers say the counter is high enough Denis O'Brien's stake building in Independent News & Media hasn't left much upside for latecomers The Irish Life & Permanent share has been on an upward trend since last autumn. Brokers believe there are gains ahead still Buying shares using Contracts For Difference (CFDs) is similar to using a mortgage to buy property The best active managed funds outperform consensus funds. But why do consensus funds outperform each other? With the IFSC on our doorstep, Irish investors can buy into investment opportunities around the world The latest equities crash makes Business Plus wonder whether Irish fund managers should rethink asset allocations for pension funds Sector specific unit-linked pension funds have been delivering better performance than managed funds, Pension returns have bounced back over the past two years but active fund managers find it hard to beat the indices New rules mean top earners will be no longer be able to fund for a pension based on two-thirds of the final remuneration Pecunius reports on what the brokers are saying about some of the popular Irish shares after crunching the numbers on the 2005 results Design trends in investment funds presents a mind-boggling choice for investors with cash to tuck away Charlie McCreevy opened up a beautiful vista for retiring company owners. Brian Cowen isn't so generous Anglo Irish Bank was the top bank share in 2005 It was difficult to make good gains on the Irish stockmarket in 2005, but the Top Ten list shows the winners, with a report on the laggards That's what a husband and wife team who own a company can extract from their firm's kitty when they retire, thanks to CGT Retirement Relief With deposit rates on the floor, it can pay dividends to buy into an investment bond Proprietary directors are in a league of their own when it comes to providing a nest egg for future years The sooner you start investing, the greater the rewards, while compounding can increase the overall returns Geared property investments are all the rage for pension investors. The latest novelty is the opportunity to own a hotel room in the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Chicago Geared pension funds, made possible by Finance Act 2004, are proving very popular with proprietary directors, sole traders and partners. Here's how they work If you have an eye for picking shares and would like to take control of your pension plan, a self-directed pension fund could be for you Looking for a speculative resources punt in 2005? Then AIM-listed Circle Oil could be worth a punt Fund manager Kevin Lucey claims to have delivered returns of 30% to 60% per annum to his followers over the past five years. For E1,500 a year, you can buy into his stock selections