Fairford:

I feel like this is turning into a gamble which doesnt leave me very comfortable

Investing in any overseas fund is more of a gamble that a UK fund. You are exposed both to movements in shares prices and movements in currency rates.

If it was certain which way the fund would swing, it would already have swung, if that makes sense. Please bear in mind though that for all the talk of financial meltdown, the pound-euro rate today is much the same as it was in Autumn 2008.

Hi Maxstream et al

Pending todays Greek elections, wondering how this will affect my Fund. The Fund is based upon a number of what I would call good performing European Companies but wonder which way this will swing. No need to answer just musing whether I should have moved the monies to another non European Fund. I feel like this is turning into a gamble which doesnt leave me very comfortable

1. All funds should provide a fact sheet with information about historical performance. There are also many web sites which compare the performance of various funds. You can also look up the performance of some european indices. If the fund invests in larger European companies, the FTSE Eurotop 100 index might be worth comparing to your fund.

2. Most of the assets and profits of the companies in the fund will be valued in euros. If the value of the assets and profits (and hence the shares) rises but the value of the euro goes down, then there could be no change in the pound value of the fund. If both the value of the shares and the euro go up (or down) then the value of the fund will reflect both the change in value of the shares and the change in value of the euro.

3. It's best to buy when prices are low and sell when prices are high. No one will disagree with this. What is an opinion is whether prices are high or low at the moment. My opinion is that prices are low but you need to make up your own mind on this.

My wife has invested in a European Fund (F&C European Growth and Income Fund) for a number of years. We are wondering if it is now time to move elsewhere with more growth potential. I have a few questions in my mind

1. how well has her fund performed over 5 years compared to other European funds - F&C claim a 47% growth over 3 years but a poor 0.04% growth over 5 years - how can I compare this to other European funds

2. I dont understand how the Euro fluctuations against the pound impact the value of the fund

3. With the European situation - is this time to hold or sell