investors: its Offshore Sales and Marketing Offices will be closed as of 12 noon on December 24, through to January 3.

INVESCO also said that its Dublin-domiciled funds would not be priced on December 27, 28 and 31, nor on January 3 of 2000. Similarly, Luxembourg-domiciled funds will be off-limits for dealing on the last day of 1999, but open on all other dates.

INVESCO advises anyone interested in placing deals on the above dates to get in touch with its London Dealing Department, which is keeping staff throughout the Christmas and New Year's peiod. The contact number is 44 (0)207 626 4741, and the cut-off time for deals is 10 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time.