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In a world of trade among nations using different currencies, every exchange of goods, services, or assets taking place between economic actors of different nations requires an accompanying currency transaction. If foreign exchange rates were fixed, this would be little more than a formality and not a potential source of market distortion. In the current world, however, the currency exchange rates are often very volatile and can affect market prices when viewed from outside the economy. Individuals with risk-averse preferences seek to minimize the potential losses possible from their currency positions through the use of currency hedging tools. When a nation‘s currency hedging instrument (e.g. a currency futures contract) is traded in liquid market, it is easy to hedge the risk posed by holding a foreign currency position. In these market situations, currency futures contracts can be purchased for hedging the currency position. However, when a nation‘s currency hedging instrument is not traded in liquid markets, it is impossible to hedge the risk by the direct hedging. Hence, a proxy for the currencies of small economies (i.e. minor currencies) must be found. This study examines five nations‘ currencies, the Fiji Dollar, Cyprus Pound, Maltese Lira, Taiwanese Dollar, and South Korea Won in order to determine an effective currency futures hedge for the three minor currencies in the above list : the Fiji Dollar, the Cyprus Pound, and the Maltese Lira. The results of this study‘s tests indicate that multiple futures contract hedge proposed in this study is an appropriate hedging tool for both the Fiji Dollar and the Cyprus Pound. In the case of the Maltese Lira, the results are less conclusive and suggest that the selection of the appropriate futures contracts should be improved.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the implicit effect of the underlying foreign currency exposure on the performance characteristics of country exchange traded funds.

To arrive at an overall estimation of the exchange-traded fund (ETF)’s tracking error, the mean of the three measures of tracking error was calculated for both the hedged (r_LC) and unhedged (r_NAV) return series. Since tracking error does not capture all the risk inherent in a country index fund, the study extends the analysis using the Sortino and Modified Sharpe ratios.

The decision to hedge currency risk should not be taken on the sole basis of historical volatilities. The investor must also factor in transactions costs, the possible roll of futures contracts and prevailing interest rate differentials. If the rate on the foreign currency is greater than the dollar (euro) rate, the investor will pay for the hedge. If the rate on the foreign currency is less than the dollar (euro) rate, the investor will gain on the trade. Given that hedging entails additional costs, in cases where the neutralization of currency volatility only reduces risk modestly, it would be advisable to leave the exchange rate risk unhedged. We propose two metrics for ETF investors deciding whether to hedge a country ETF’s underlying currency risk.

The results highlight a key finding: while the majority of country funds accurately track the performance of the underlying foreign index when measured in the local currency, returns in the fund currency can be much more volatile. In breaking down the sources of country fund volatility, the paper demonstrates the impact of the underlying currency movements on overall fund risk. In cases where the currency impact has a significant impact on fund tracking errors, an index-oriented investor benefits from neutralizing the exchange rate effect. Additionally, as the Sortino and Modified Sharpe measures suggest that the underlying currency exposure offers in most cases a better risk-adjusted return for country exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the listing currency, we also calculate the risk minimizing foreign currency exposure for each fund and propose a decision rule based on the net currency variance to decide whether to hedge the ETF’s currency risk. The optimal hedge ratio indicates that US-based investors should only partially hedge the underlying currency risk while European-based investors are better off fully hedging currency risk.

Uses Monte Carlo simulation to demonstrate the benefits of employing a currency swap to hedge the exchange rate exposure in a single international real estate investment. The only cashflow exposed to the currency fluctuations is the appreciation associated with the investment. Shows that this hedging technique has some potential for protecting the investor from adverse currency fluctuations if an international real estate investment is made. However, promises to explore unresolved issues in future research. Demonstrates that some elements of exchange rate risk may be hedged, resulting in improved risk‐adjusted returns. Thus extends earlier research in international property investment and suggests that international real estate strategies based on diversification (as opposed to currency plays) may be more effective than has been argued in previous research.

Drawing upon underinvestment theory and clientele effect hypothesis, this paper aims to examine the effects of foreign currency (forex) exposure and Shari’ah-compliant status on firms’ financial hedging strategy.

Based on data of 250 nonfinancial firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2010 to 2018 (2,250 firm-year observations), the authors test the impact of forex exposure based on a vector of foreign-denominated cash flows (FCF) indicators and firms’ Sharīʿah-compliant status on two proxies of financial hedging decisions, namely, the ratio of the notional value of currency derivatives to total assets and a binomial measure of hedging status. The hedging decision models are estimated using panel logistic regression and system generalized method of moments.

The results indicate significant positive effects of the forex exposure indicators on firms’ propensity to hedge. However, the impact of forex exposure is most prevalent via total FCF. The results also reveal significant positive effects of Sharīʿah-compliant status on firms’ propensity to hedge but its negative impacts on the value of currency derivatives they use. The results suggest that Sharīʿah-compliant firms refrain from engaging in currency derivatives to avoid riba’ and subsequently subdue the clientele effect. However, when the forex exposure reaches higher levels, engagement in currency derivatives becomes a matter of tentative necessity (dharurat).

This study relies exclusively on the disclosure of foreign currency risk and management data in the annual reports of listed companies. Consequently, this limits the sample size to only those nonfinancial listed companies with complete data for the study period. Also, since none of the companies reports using Sharīʿah-compliant derivatives, the authors thus assume that they use derivative instruments that tolerate “riba.”

Given the significance of forex exposure on hedging decisions, the accounting profession must strictly adopt FRS 7 and FRS 139 for all listed firms to avoid market scrutiny and sustain their clientele. The results also call for the Islamic market regulators to include mandatory disclosure of conventional currency derivatives in screening firms for clearly prohibited activities to help enhance the credibility of its Islamic financial market.

Due to difficulty accessing relevant cash flow data, the study is among the few studies that measure forex exposure using FCF and test more proxy indicators. This study is perhaps the first to examine the Shari’ah perspective on currency derivatives in corporate forex risk management.

Exposure risk managers can hedge exchange rate risk with either currency futures or currency options. It is generally suggested that hedgers should choose a hedge instrument that matches the risk profile of the underlying currency position as closely as possible. This advice, however, ignores the possibility that the hedging effectiveness may differ for the alternate risk management tools. This study compares the effectiveness of currency futures and currency options as hedging instruments for covered and uncovered currency positions. Based on Ederington's portfolio theory of hedging, the results show that currency futures provide the more effective covered hedge, while currency options (used to construct a synthetic futures contract) are more effective for an uncovered hedge. Hence, exposure risk managers do not have to sacrifice hedging effectiveness to obtain the desired risk profile. Corporations engaged in international business transactions are commonly exposed to exchange rate risk. Since management is concerned with currency exposure, it can hedge the anticipated exchange rate risk either with futures or options. The choice of the appropriate hedging tool is generally influenced by the type of currency exposure (transaction, translation, or economic risk), the size of the firm, the industry effect, the risk preference of the manager or the firm and his/her familiarity with the available financial instruments and techniques. It is also suggested that a hedger should choose a hedge instrument that matches the risk profile of the underlying currency position as closely as possible. Hence, futures contracts are more suitable for covered hedges, while option contracts are best used for uncovered hedges. Hedging effectiveness of these two hedge instruments must be considered as well in order to evaluate the cost of obtaining the desired risk profile. Some empirical research has shown that the futures contract provides both an appropriate risk profile and a more effective hedge than an options contract for covered positions. If these findings also hold for uncovered currency positions, then the hedging decision involves a trade‐off between the desired risk profile and hedging effectiveness. That is, a hedger would have to decide whether the extra risk protection afforded by the attractive risk profile of options is worth the loss in hedging performance. This study compares the hedging effectiveness of currency futures and currency options for both covered and uncovered positions. Ederington's risk‐minimizing approach is applied to estimate the hedging effectiveness and the least risk hedge ratios which, in turn, are used to assess the trade‐off between risk profile and hedging performance.

Auditors nowadays must be aggressive and involved in risk assessment and analysis. This paper identifies, analyzes, and recommends a solution to a current problem in accounting for foreign‐currency hedges. This is accomplished by an examination of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 133, Accounting for Derivatives Instruments and Hedging Activities, as issued in June 1998. Multi‐currency accounting is recommended as an alternative to functional‐currency accounting. The information generated by the multi‐currency versus the functional currency (as advocated in the SFAS 133) accounting methods for using options as hedging instruments is illustrated. Multi‐currency accounting excels in its transparency. It more clearly provides information on the respective exposure positions of the hedged items and the hedging instruments as well as the notional amounts. Auditors’ risk assessment and analysis can now be effectively performed under this system.

Theoretical studies suggest that hedging helps firms to reduce their financial distress costs and underinvestment problem especially if the markets are imperfect. Hence hedging, through the use of currency derivatives, is one of the important financial policies for firms. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the determinants of derivatives usage by Indian firms using financial disclosures on currency derivatives by non-financial constituents of S&P CNX 500 for 2009.

We manually collect the data on foreign currency derivatives from firms’ annual reports for 2009 and then follow Haushalter’s (2000) approach to examine the determinants of firms’ decision to hedge. A firm can make its hedging decision at once, deciding whether to hedge and how much to hedge. Given the nature of dependent variable that is censored, it is appropriate to use Tobit regression. A firm can also decide its hedging decision in two steps by deciding first on whether to hedge and later how much to hedge. The former is modelled by probit regression and later by conditional regression.

Our empirical evidence suggests that forwards are the main instruments for managing currency risk followed by options and swaps. The objectives, in the order of priority, are reduction in exposure associated with foreign currency receivables, foreign currency long-term loans and foreign currency payables. Firm’s decision to hedge is positively related to size, foreign exchange exposure and leverage, while negatively related to liquidity and investment opportunities. We find evidence of higher derivative usage by firms with both higher currency risk and higher financial distress costs.

The findings of this paper will help corporates, researchers and regulators to understand firms’ motives behind hedging.

This is the first empirical study that examines the determinants of firm’s decision to hedge and the extent of hedging in the context of emerging economies like India.

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine currency swaps as an effective hedging technique for individual asset performance in today’s global real estate market, by considering hypothetical prime office investments across six different cities and five currency pairs. The perspective of a risk-averse, high net worth, non-institutional, smaller-scale Swiss investor is paired with investors from five additional national markets.

The study examines currency swaps in key office markets across three continents (Frankfurt, London, New York, Sydney, Warsaw and Zurich) and extends previous work on the topic by adopting both Monte Carlo (MC) and Latin Hypercube (LH) techniques to create stochastic samples for individual asset performance analyses. This is the first paper to apply LH sampling to currency swaps with underlying real estate assets, and the validity of this method is compared with that of MC. Four models are presented: the experience of the domestic investor (no exchange rate (ER) fluctuations); an unhedged direct foreign investment; hedging rental income and initial purchase price via a currency swap; and hedging rental income and anticipated terminal value.

The efficacy of a swap depends on the historical framework of the ERs. If the foreign currency depreciates against the domestic one, hedging the repatriated cash flow of a property investment proved superior to the unhedged strategy (EUR, GBP, PLN and USD to the CHF). An investor would benefit from exposure to an appreciating foreign currency (CHF to the EUR, GBP, PLN and USD), with an unhedged strategy clearly outperforming the currency swap as well as the domestic investor’s performance, while a historically sideways fluctuating ER (AUD to the CHF) also favours an unhedged approach. In all scenarios, unexpected economic or market shocks could cause negative consequences on the repatriated proceeds.

This research is of interest to small-scale, non-institutional investors aiming to develop strategies for currency risk mitigation in international investments for individual assets; however, tax-optimising strategies and the implications on a larger portfolio have not been taken into account.

There is no recent academic work on the efficacy of currency swaps in today’s global office market, nor has the position of smaller-scale high net worth investors received much academic attention. This research revisits the discussion on their validity, providing contemporary insight into the performance of six markets using LH as an alternative and original sampling technique.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the benefits of international equity portfolios from the viewpoint of Polish investors.

Eight national stock markets are included in the sample and three different portfolio forming strategies – Equally‐Weighted Portfolio (EWP), Minimum Variance Portfolio (MVP) and Tangency Portfolio (TP) – are adopted to construct the international diversified portfolios. In order to reveal the impact of currency hedging, the performance of a non‐hedged versus a fully‐hedged strategy is estimated. Finally, for comparison purpose, performances of the international portfolios from US investors' perspective are also examined.

Using monthly data from 1999 to 2008, the results show that from an ex post basis, an equally‐weighted global portfolio offers risk reduction opportunities for Polish investors and performance improvement potentials for US investors. In addition, US investors seem to fare better leaving their foreign investment unhedged, while Polish investors benefit from currency hedging. However, ex ante analysis reveals that when short‐selling is allowed, TP outperforms other portfolios and the risk‐adjusted portfolio performance could be enhanced by currency hedging.

In summary, the ex post analysis suggests that global portfolio either reduces risk or improves return. Compared to the domestic portfolio, the international portfolio reduces the portfolio risk while maintaining certain level of portfolio return for Polish investors who experience unusual high volatility in domestic market. On the other hand, an international portfolio yields higher portfolio return with similar risk level, as compared to the domestic portfolio, for US investors who suffer losses in the domestic market. A full currency hedging strategy benefits Polish but not US investors. Hedging or not, the risk of the local stock market is the major contributor to the risk of the equally‐weighted portfolio for both Polish and US investors.

Supply chain risks significantly endanger small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME‐) suppliers in different currency areas in purchasing and sales. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to describe the concept of natural hedging in supply chains, and to highlight the potentials of natural hedging as a risk prophylaxis and a supplier financing approach.

The paper uses a brief literature review and a conceptual research design, taking the financial and physical component of natural hedging (in this case between an OEM and its SME‐suppliers in the automotive industry) into consideration.

Natural hedging of currency and commodity price fluctuations can contribute to the reduction of SME‐suppliers' supply chain vulnerability, also benefiting an OEM.

This research focuses exclusively on relationships between SME‐suppliers and large OEMs in the automotive industry. Studies of other types of companies and industries, such as the capital goods industry, might reveal divergent practices.

With the natural hedging approach, the paper promotes an innovative concept for better managing risks in supply chains, especially in recessionary times. The concept is a source for supplier financing.

This research shows that a globally active focal firm – an OEM in the automotive industry, for instance – can hedge currency and commodity price risks (financial components), as well as operational supply risks (physical components), by centralizing commodity supply with its SME‐suppliers. It can serve as a basis for future research.