European mutual funds almost across the board finished 2005 with double-digit returns, according to Reuters, citing statistics from Lipper. Swiss-based stock funds led the way with average growth of 31.94%, followed by funds based in Spain (28.95%), U.K. (20.15%) and France (16.36%).

In general, bond funds did not perform nearly as well, with the French variety climbing 6.58%, and the Swiss version eeking out just 1.63%.  The best performing offering in Germany – Reuters did not have an average for the country – was the Invesco Japanese Small/Mid Cap Equity Fund, which soared 59.32%. In fact, fund investing in Japanese equities were among the top performers across the continent.