Advantages: Young, small and flexible. Superb but brief historic performance.
Disadvantages: Little movement in price for several months.

...Jupiter European Special Situations fund was set up less than two years ago and has already seen growth of 140%. Virtually all of that growth was made in the first year but what sets this fund apart from many others, is that it has held on to those gains through what has been one of the most volatile years for shares around the world. Even though the Euro has slipped in value by 30% or so, over the last year, the fund has maintained its value in Sterling terms. When the Euro recovers, as we are led to believe it will, this will be translated into a 30% gain. I bought into this one in January of this year and have no qualms whatsoever about holding. The fund size currently stands at about £140 million, which is miniscule for a European fund. This means it is flexible and can react much more quickly to changes in trends... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent management, very good performance.
Disadvantages: Now a fairly large fund.

...At just over a billion pounds, this fund is three times the size of the average for the sector but only a third of the size of the largest in the sector. With 225% growth over 5 years and 525% over 10 years it has outperformed the sector average by a factor of 1.5. Richard Pease's management has kept this fund in the first quartile for most of the last eight years, not returning less than 15% annual growth since 1992. It currently forms a small but growing part of my portfolio, with my main European funds being T.U. European and Invesco GT European Growth. Jupiter have an extremely good reputation and, (according to the Jupiter Report from Hargreaves Lansdown) despite recent occurrences, their managers have been secured for the foreseeable future, and are not expected to defect to anything set up by John Duffield, Jupiter's former... Read review

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Advantages: Wide range of funds, top class fund managers
Disadvantages: Got caught out when the technology, media and communication markets dropped.

...in the future. Update (24/7/01) Over the last twelve months, the performance of Invesco's funds has been less than impressive. The have merged with Perpetual and funds from both companies have been combined. This has nthing to do with the poor performance of Invesco's previously most impressive funds, the European Growth and European Smaller Company funds. Both of these funds have crashed over the last twelve months due to over investment in Technology stocks and the fund managers' failure to see the drop in value in this market sector. The funds will recover in time, as they are long term investments but it is still scary to check the value of your investment and see it has halved in twelve months and is now worth less than you invested. If you are looking to invest in an ISA or Unit Trust then the European Growth and European Smaller Company... Read review

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Advantages: Rock solid company managing the fund.
Disadvantages: Abysmal growth record. Fund too large.

...else. Most of my money went to Jupiter funds and to TU European but if I were transferring now I would be taking a serious look at the Artemis funds.... Read review

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Advantages: Phenominal growth, very low volatility and low charges.
Disadvantages: Very recent performance has been a little dull.

...There can be few funds out there with a performance graph as smooth as TU European (not counting the flat liners of course, whose performance suggests that either the fund or the fund manager passed away some time ago). It is very rare to find a fund producing 30 to 40% growth per annum over many years without excessive volatility. To get that sort of growth over an extended period you usually have to resort to the riskier sectors of the market - technology, internet, bio-tech, venture capital, emerging markets, etc - but TU European has a pretty low risk portfolio with excellent management and has produced annual growth of that magnitude year-on-year. The major corrections, for the Far East in 1998 and technology stocks earlier this year, are almost insignificant in the performance of this fund. In the very short term (the last few... Read review

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Advantages: Great performance...
Disadvantages: ...until recently

...I have had an Invesco European Smaller companies unit trust for almost three years now and it has been one of the best investments I have made. This unit trust took a quarter of the money I invested in a PEP, just before PEPs were replaced by ISAs. In the time I have had it, my investment has doubled. The Smaller companies unit trust from Invesco has been a consistent performer over the last few years and, while it's value does fluctuate like any other investment, it has shown a steady state of growth and it looks like it should continue to do so. Europe appears to be a good place to invest money and the Smaller Companies unit trust, while being more volatile than European Growth fund, does have the potential for greater growth. Invesco describe this fund as being medium to high risk, so it is not for the nervous but it is a good place... Read review

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Advantages: Low online prices
Disadvantages: All eggs in one basket

...If you've decided to buy a unit trust to invest some of your money in the stock market, then Fidelity is a good company to use. You want to invest in shares, a unit trust is a group of shares which have been picked by a professional fund manager. I first invested in unit trusts through Fidelity many years ago. Some of their funds performance is outstanding over long periods of time. Their 3 headline funds are: Fidelity European Fidelity American Fidelity Special Situations (UK based) There are many different types of fund to choose from. The 3 listed above are very popular and have performed particularly well. Each one will buy shares in companies in that particular geographic area. The UK Special Situations buys shares in companies which are seen to be very under-valued by the fund manager. The performance of these 3 funds... Read review

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Advantages: Good returns, prompt service
Disadvantages: None

...I took out a stocks & shares mini ISA in January with a lump sum. I have been making regular monthly contributions in the current tax year. I invest in two of their funds , European Growth and Global Dynamic Themes. The application process was simple and my money was invested promptly. The paperwork was correct and simple, which is all that I want. The one query I made (via e-mail) was answered promptly and courteously. Charges are reasonable provided you use one of the discount brokers to make the original purchase. It is usually a mistake to buy such products directly from the provider. I am satisfied with both the service and invstment returns.... Read review

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Advantages: A relatively low risk fund, high income yield of almost 6%, below average initial charge, one of the top funds in its sector, low interest rates make bonds attractive
Disadvantages: Bonds underperform when equities outperform, long term performance is modest compared to equity funds

...the last year the holding in the fund has risen by around 11%. This is a good return considering the sharp falls in equity markets that have taken place recently. The fund is managed by Henderson's and has a portfolio made up of investments mainly in fixed interest securities and cash. The manager of the fund is Ian Dickson who has managed the portfolio since November 1978. Bonds and fixed interest securities are on the whole lower risk assets than equities. The portfolio of the fund is invested in 67.8% UK Corporate Bonds, 0.9% European Corporate Bonds, 22.8% Preference & Convertible shares, Net current assets (cash) 8.5%. The fund size is £286.4 million. The five largest holdings of the Henderson Preference & Bond fund include: ICI Investments 7.625% Bonds - 21/8/2007 Daily Mail & General Trust 7.5% Bonds - 29/3/2013 Enterprise Oil 7... Read review

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Advantages: good gameplay
Disadvantages: hmmm

...Fifa 99 has got to be the most realistic football game ever made and sold on the shelves of every computer software shop around the world. The game play is superb the grahics are stunning and the detail in the people are perfect... This game is for 1 to 8 players and the controls are simple and very quick and easy to pick up, although for those awesome trick shots they might require some practice to get those overheads timed perfectly! You can play friends or tornaments, from a choice of European cups such as the Champions legue, where you can play any team of your choice and buy/sell any player of your choice too, assumning you have the funding to do so. A great mutliplayer game and a most for all computer footbal enthusiasts!... Read review

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