@anro25 Good Question, and the answer is a little longer than I first anticipated when I started typing.
First, of course I'd prefer to invest in a fund that has a base currency of euros, it makes the transaction easier, and avoids the small added cost of converting between currencies.
As for worrying about exposure to GBP, the exposure isn't to the base currency of the fund, it is to the currencies of the underlying constituents of that fund, same as a S&P 500 ETF, whether the base currency is Euros or GBP, the exposure is to USD. If the USD rises against the EUR, but the S&P stays flat, then the EUR S&P 500 ETF rises, and vice versa.
As I write the the top 10 holdings of SMT are :
1 Tesla Inc USD
2 Amazon.com USD
3 Illumina USD
4 Tencent CNY
5 Alibaba CNY
6 Meituan Dianping CNY
7 ASML EUR
8 Delivery Hero EUR
9 Netflix USD
10 Spotify USD (it is listed on the NYSE)
The currency exposure of this fund is mostly in USD. The regional exposure is :
1 North American Equities 55.30
2 Chinese Equities 19.00
3 Eurozone Equity 17.30
4 Developed European Equity 3.70
5 Money Market 2.00
6 UK Equities 1.30
7 Indian Equities 1.10
8 Global Fixed Interest 0.30
This is a quite diversified fund with a very small exposure to UK Equities and thus a small exposure to the GBP.
Now, when it comes to price, things get a little more nuanced where ITs are concerned.
If you go onto the trustnet site for SMT:
https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/t/be08/scottish-mortgage-investment-trust-plc
You will see that the SMT is currently running at a discount Vs the underlying holdings, it yo-yos a little, but this fund was running at a premium, this sudden change may be due to currency changes, or maybe a large sell off. Many will see this a a buying opportunity. Buying something at a discount, i.e. for less than its NAV, makes sense right? And buying at a premium is the opposite.
While this may seem concerning, from a tax/revenue perspective, it highlights the key difference between Investment Trusts and ETFs or other Open Ended funds. When you buy an ETF, or an OEIC, the fund issuer can just create more units for you. You do not necessarily buy them from someone else in the market. Your transaction does not affect the price of the ETF because the price is a direct reflection of the NAV of the constituents, not the demand for the units in the ETF*.
The demand for shares of an IT, and some currency fluctuation cause the discount/premium that you see quoted with all ITs. Ultimately where the NAV goes the share price will follow, however it may take a little longer than the immediate reflection you see with an ETF. The price will always regress towards centrality vs the premium/discount, so buy at a discount if you can, it could be free gains.
*If there is a massive inflow to a particular S&P 500 ETF, the issuer buys the underlying constituents, that raises the price of the constitutes and thus of the ETF. The point is, the price of an S&P 500 ETF is a reflection of the S&P500 price, not the demand for that ETF. If, at the exact same moment, everybody sold their iShare S&P500 ETF and bought the Vanguard S&P500 ETF, in theory, it would not affect the price of the Vanguard ETF, they would just issue more units and the net amount of money in the S&P 500 has not changed, so that would remain the same too.