ETF in Euros

cisko65

Hi, I need to understand whether I can use my Barclay Euro Account (different from the international one) as a deposit account for investing euros in ETF. I called Barclays but they weren't able to reply clearly.
Any suggestion?
I am not a financial expert...
Thanks! 

Olive_Spider

Hi,

I'm not a financial expert either (so take the following with a few grains of salt), but I must admit I am a little hazy on your question. Euros are not an investment but a currency (you expect the value of an investment to rise in nominal terms over time, but a currency - like pound sterling - will vary with the exchange rate). 

You can hold an ETF investment denominated in euros, i.e. where your pound sterling is converted to euros and then used to purchase the fund. This could be a share or bond investment, though if you wanted something without market risk, you could choose a Money Market Fund which holds deposits at multiple different banks and increases based on the average interest rate.

As an alternative (and I believe this is what Barclays is offering) you may hold a bank account denominated in a foreign currency, which is not an ETF as you do not pay into it by purchasing shares on a stock exchange or withdraw from it by selling shares. ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.

I think the answer to your question depends a little bit on why you wish to invest in euros. If your sole aim is to protect against a decrease in the value of the pound versus the euro, a bank account denominated in euros makes some sense. If what you want to do is hold an ETF investment in something else (e.g. a European shares tracker), then I don't think this will help you accomplish that.

I am sorry I can't be of more use but I hope that helps.
All the best.

cisko65

Olive_Spider said:

Hi,

I'm not a financial expert either (so take the following with a few grains of salt), but I must admit I am a little hazy on your question. Euros are not an investment but a currency (you expect the value of an investment to rise in nominal terms over time, but a currency - like pound sterling - will vary with the exchange rate). 

You can hold an ETF investment denominated in euros, i.e. where your pound sterling is converted to euros and then used to purchase the fund. This could be a share or bond investment, though if you wanted something without market risk, you could choose a Money Market Fund which holds deposits at multiple different banks and increases based on the average interest rate.

As an alternative (and I believe this is what Barclays is offering) you may hold a bank account denominated in a foreign currency, which is not an ETF as you do not pay into it by purchasing shares on a stock exchange or withdraw from it by selling shares. ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.

I think the answer to your question depends a little bit on why you wish to invest in euros. If your sole aim is to protect against a decrease in the value of the pound versus the euro, a bank account denominated in euros makes some sense. If what you want to do is hold an ETF investment in something else (e.g. a European shares tracker), then I don't think this will help you accomplish that.

I am sorry I can't be of more use but I hope that helps.
All the best.

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

The reason why I would like to buy ETF with euros is that I have some in a Barclays Personal Euro account. I don't want to change euros into pounds as the exchange rate is not good, and it will, very probably, be not good when in the future I'll disinvest and need euros.

I'm not sure I understand what Money Market Fund is and whether I can do it in euros and with a relatively low amount. 

Barclays offers international investments in euros but only above a big amount. And I think they charge a lot.

wmb194

cisko65 said:

Olive_Spider said:

Hi,

I'm not a financial expert either (so take the following with a few grains of salt), but I must admit I am a little hazy on your question. Euros are not an investment but a currency (you expect the value of an investment to rise in nominal terms over time, but a currency - like pound sterling - will vary with the exchange rate). 

You can hold an ETF investment denominated in euros, i.e. where your pound sterling is converted to euros and then used to purchase the fund. This could be a share or bond investment, though if you wanted something without market risk, you could choose a Money Market Fund which holds deposits at multiple different banks and increases based on the average interest rate.

As an alternative (and I believe this is what Barclays is offering) you may hold a bank account denominated in a foreign currency, which is not an ETF as you do not pay into it by purchasing shares on a stock exchange or withdraw from it by selling shares. ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.

I think the answer to your question depends a little bit on why you wish to invest in euros. If your sole aim is to protect against a decrease in the value of the pound versus the euro, a bank account denominated in euros makes some sense. If what you want to do is hold an ETF investment in something else (e.g. a European shares tracker), then I don't think this will help you accomplish that.

I am sorry I can't be of more use but I hope that helps.
All the best.

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

The reason why I would like to buy ETF with euros is that I have some in a Barclays Personal Euro account. I don't want to change euros into pounds as the exchange rate is not good, and it will, very probably, be not good when in the future I'll disinvest and need euros.

I'm not sure I understand what Money Market Fund is and whether I can do it in euros and with a relatively low amount. 

Barclays offers international investments in euros but only above a big amount. And I think they charge a lot.

You can deposit euros in a Trading212 GIA and keep and invest the money in euros. It offers some euro denominated ETFs. 0.15% FX fee if you convert and no account fee or commission.

https://www.trading212.com/multi-currency

I'm a bit out of date with Barclays but last I checked you couldn't do the same  Barclays SmartInvestor (its stockbroker).

cisko65

wmb194 said:

cisko65 said:

Olive_Spider said:

Hi,

I'm not a financial expert either (so take the following with a few grains of salt), but I must admit I am a little hazy on your question. Euros are not an investment but a currency (you expect the value of an investment to rise in nominal terms over time, but a currency - like pound sterling - will vary with the exchange rate). 

You can hold an ETF investment denominated in euros, i.e. where your pound sterling is converted to euros and then used to purchase the fund. This could be a share or bond investment, though if you wanted something without market risk, you could choose a Money Market Fund which holds deposits at multiple different banks and increases based on the average interest rate.

As an alternative (and I believe this is what Barclays is offering) you may hold a bank account denominated in a foreign currency, which is not an ETF as you do not pay into it by purchasing shares on a stock exchange or withdraw from it by selling shares. ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.

I think the answer to your question depends a little bit on why you wish to invest in euros. If your sole aim is to protect against a decrease in the value of the pound versus the euro, a bank account denominated in euros makes some sense. If what you want to do is hold an ETF investment in something else (e.g. a European shares tracker), then I don't think this will help you accomplish that.

I am sorry I can't be of more use but I hope that helps.
All the best.

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

The reason why I would like to buy ETF with euros is that I have some in a Barclays Personal Euro account. I don't want to change euros into pounds as the exchange rate is not good, and it will, very probably, be not good when in the future I'll disinvest and need euros.

I'm not sure I understand what Money Market Fund is and whether I can do it in euros and with a relatively low amount. 

Barclays offers international investments in euros but only above a big amount. And I think they charge a lot.

You can deposit euros in a Trading212 GIA and keep and invest the money in euros. It offers some euro denominated ETFs. 0.15% FX fee if you convert and no account fee or commission.

https://www.trading212.com/multi-currency

I'm a bit out of date with Barclays but last I checked you couldn't do the same  Barclays SmartInvestor (its stockbroker).

Hi wmb194,
I found the blog

https://sortter.com/blog/article/trading-212-vs-vanguard/

very useful, as it compares trading212 with other investment brokers for etf. But it's from 2023 so not up-to-date. Do you know any other specific comparison websites about investing my euros in ETF? Thanks. 

wmb194

cisko65 said:

wmb194 said:

cisko65 said:

Olive_Spider said:

Hi,

I'm not a financial expert either (so take the following with a few grains of salt), but I must admit I am a little hazy on your question. Euros are not an investment but a currency (you expect the value of an investment to rise in nominal terms over time, but a currency - like pound sterling - will vary with the exchange rate). 

You can hold an ETF investment denominated in euros, i.e. where your pound sterling is converted to euros and then used to purchase the fund. This could be a share or bond investment, though if you wanted something without market risk, you could choose a Money Market Fund which holds deposits at multiple different banks and increases based on the average interest rate.

As an alternative (and I believe this is what Barclays is offering) you may hold a bank account denominated in a foreign currency, which is not an ETF as you do not pay into it by purchasing shares on a stock exchange or withdraw from it by selling shares. ETF stands for Exchange Traded Fund.

I think the answer to your question depends a little bit on why you wish to invest in euros. If your sole aim is to protect against a decrease in the value of the pound versus the euro, a bank account denominated in euros makes some sense. If what you want to do is hold an ETF investment in something else (e.g. a European shares tracker), then I don't think this will help you accomplish that.

I am sorry I can't be of more use but I hope that helps.
All the best.

Hi there, thanks for your reply.

The reason why I would like to buy ETF with euros is that I have some in a Barclays Personal Euro account. I don't want to change euros into pounds as the exchange rate is not good, and it will, very probably, be not good when in the future I'll disinvest and need euros.

I'm not sure I understand what Money Market Fund is and whether I can do it in euros and with a relatively low amount. 

Barclays offers international investments in euros but only above a big amount. And I think they charge a lot.

You can deposit euros in a Trading212 GIA and keep and invest the money in euros. It offers some euro denominated ETFs. 0.15% FX fee if you convert and no account fee or commission.

https://www.trading212.com/multi-currency

I'm a bit out of date with Barclays but last I checked you couldn't do the same  Barclays SmartInvestor (its stockbroker).

Hi wmb194,
I found the blog

https://sortter.com/blog/article/trading-212-vs-vanguard/

very useful, as it compares trading212 with other investment brokers for etf. But it's from 2023 so not up-to-date. Do you know any other specific comparison websites about investing my euros in ETF? Thanks. 

No idea but looking at the page you linked reminds me that De Giro is another option for euro denominated ETFs and you should be able to deposit euros.