Jupiter European Fund

Did you know that the population of Europe is larger than the population of the US? It’s a fact that often surprises a lot of people. Yet, the stock market in the US is significantly higher than Europe’s. Not a surprise, when you consider that America is home to seven out of the world’s ten largest companies, including names such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.

But dig deeper into Europe and you will find some world-leading companies that just happen to be based in Europe. European shares warrant their place in any well-diversified investment portfolio.

Buy companies, not countries

Whatever one’s opinion is of the political and economic fortunes of Europe, it should be remembered that investors don’t buy countries, they buy companies. And Europe is home to many of the world’s best. In the same way as the fortunes of Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are not entirely reliant on the US economy, European companies are not always reliant on the long-term fortunes of the countries across Europe. The team that manages the Jupiter European Fund focuses on looking for these global companies that happen to be based in Europe.

Very few competitors

The team at Jupiter tends to favour companies that have very few competitors. A good example would be Adidas – the largest sportswear company in Europe. In fact, just 27% of Adidas sales are into Europe¹, whilst it and Nike together account for 60% of the global sports brand market. It can be difficult for new companies to enter markets like this, which means it can be extremely profitable for the existing companies to operate in. And good profits usually correspond with good share price performance.

Jupiter European Fund

The Jupiter European Fund will typically invest in about 35 to 45 companies like Adidas. 35 to 45 growing companies which make their profits from all around the world. And because these companies have the potential to continue growing for many years, the team at Jupiter tend to invest for a very long time, which means less trading and keeping costs down.

The team at Jupiter have been together for many years, and while no one knows where markets are heading from here, this could be a fund worth considering if you are thinking of investing in Europe. In addition to the Jupiter European Fund, there are also four more funds on the Barclays Funds List that focus on Europe. Find out more information on these funds.

Correct at the time of publishing.

To diversify your investment, you may like to consider our own Barclays Ready-made Investments (RMI). The RMI are just one example of a range of diversified funds which allow you to select the level of risk you are most comfortable with. These multi-asset funds invest in passive funds across a range of asset classes and regions, offering a globally diversified solution for investors. Ready-made Investments are not the only funds that we offer and they won’t be appropriate for everyone.

Past performance of the fund and its manager are not a reliable indicator of their future performance.

We don’t offer personal investment advice so if you’re unsure you should seek that independently.

Funds are designed for the long term so you should only consider them if you can stay invested for at least five years.

These are our current opinions but the future, as ever, is uncertain and outcomes may differ.

Read the Assessment of Value report [PDF, 3.2MB] for funds run by Barclays.