NEW YORK (AP) – Yes, your mutual fund may own some Greek stocks. No, most likely not a lot.
Athens burst back into the spotlight Monday after its main stock index plunged 16 percent. The spasm of selling came after investors got their first chance to unload shares since the Greek stock market shut down five weeks ago.
But U.S. investors have relatively little to fear from the crash, even though there’s a good chance they’re in a mutual fund that has some Greek stocks. That’s because funds typically keep only an iota of their portfolios there.
Consider funds that specialize in emerging markets, the type where it’s most likely to see a Greek company. The average such fund with Greek stocks in its portfolio has just 0.5 percent of its holdings in them, according to the latest data from Morningstar.
Across all categories, the average amount is 0.3 percent, not including funds that are entirely clear of Greek stocks. That’s why investors are more worried about the effects that Greece’s debt problems will have on the rest of Europe than about Greece itself.