Owning shares only traded in foreign currency

manrow

My son works in England for a Norwegian company which has a good scheme assisting the buying of the company's shares; however the shares are only quoted on the Norwegian stock exchange.

My son is concerned that with currency fluctuations, especially but not exclusively the Euro, he is asking whether he should sell the shares and invest his winnings on the London stock exchange in sterling instead.

Occams_Razor_2

not sure of the question?

yes, there is currency risk in overseas shares.

manrow

We are both concerned as to which direction European currencies might take if there is a big hit on the Euro as seems possible. At least if we are invested in sterling then that is just one conundrum.

JoeCrystal

But... if it is in Norwegian stock market, then it would be priced in Norwegian krone? I am under somewhat potentially mistaken impression that Norwegian krone are more 'steady' for lack of better term than Euro or even Pounds?

Occams_Razor_2

that's fine. but you might also want to check these shares are not locked up as part of the advantageous share purchase schemes.

i.e. you might have to hold them for a period of time.

Theyarv1

Like JoeCystal says, Norway deals in the Krone. If you believe that the European crisis will unfold badly, then you will not want to be in euros or pounds, and in fact being in Norway is probably a positive. Also one would imagine your son has a better idea of how his company is likely to fare in the coming years rather than how the LSE will do overall. If you think however that there is not going to be a huge problem in Europe then you are indeed likely to face some foreign currency fluctuations, but who knows if they would be positive or negative.