Hedging explained: use cases and real-world examples

Hedging is a risk management strategy used in financial markets to reduce exposure to risks associated with fluctuations in asset prices. In simple terms, hedging involves taking an opposite or contrary position to an existing position to reduce risk.

Hedging, commonly utilised in investment and finance, serves as a protective measure for investors against risks arising from changes in asset prices, interest rates, currencies, and other factors that may negatively impact the value of their investments or income.

The basic idea behind hedging is to make trades that offset or mitigate the risk of an existing position so that if losses are incurred, these are at least partially offset by gains in the hedging position.

One of the main issues to consider about hedging is that it is not a strategy for making profits, but a risk management tool. By using hedging, investors seek to reduce their exposure to adverse events that can affect their profitability or financial stability. In other words, the goal of hedging is not to generate profits but to limit or offset losses.

There are different financial instruments and techniques that can be used to carry out hedging strategies. Some of the most common include futures contracts, options, swaps, and other derivatives. These instruments allow investors to establish positions that move in the opposite direction thus creating an offsetting effect.

A simple example of hedging is that of a company that imports products from another country. If the currency of that country appreciates against the local currency, import costs will increase, which could reduce the company’s profit margins.

To protect against this risk, the company could use currency futures or options contracts to lock in a specific exchange rate. In this way, if the foreign currency appreciates, losses in the value of the local currency would be offset by gains in the hedging position.

Another interesting aspect of hedging is that it is not always perfect. This means that the hedge may not completely eliminate the risk, but only reduce it to some extent. This can be due to factors such as the volatility of the market, the liquidity of the instruments used for hedging or differences in the size and term of the positions.

Hedging instruments

After understanding the concept of hedging in the field of investment and finance, it is essential to know more about the hedging instruments that allow these strategies to be carried out. Hedging instruments are financial tools that help investors and companies manage the risk associated with their positions and income, allowing for compensation for potential losses in the event of adverse events.

Among the most used hedging instruments, we find the following:

• Futures: These are contracts in which the parties must buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price at a future date. Futures can be used to cover risks associated with fluctuation in the price of commodities, currencies, and interest rates, among others.
• Options: These contracts grant their holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call option) or sell (put option) an asset at a predetermined price on or before a future date. Options provide more flexibility than futures, as they allow the holder to decide whether or not to exercise the contract depending on market conditions.
• Swaps: These are agreements between two parties to exchange cash flows in the future, usually related to interest rates, currencies, or commodities. Swaps can be used to cover risks of fluctuation in interest rates or in the price of a commodity, for example.
• Forward contracts: These are customised agreements between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specific price on a future date. Unlike futures, forwards are not traded on centralised marketplaces (such as exchanges) and, therefore, can be better adapted to the specific needs of the parties involved.

An interesting aspect of hedging instruments is that, while their main objective is to reduce risk, they can also generate profits for investors and companies if used properly and at the right time.

In addition, it is possible to combine different hedging instruments to create more sophisticated strategies that are adapted to the needs and risk profiles of each investor.

How does hedging work? How can I hedge?

Having explored the concept of hedging and hedging instruments, it is important to understand how the process of implementing a hedging strategy works. Hedging is essentially a risk management technique that allows investors and companies to protect their investments or income from adverse events, such as changes in asset prices, fluctuations in interest rates or movements in currencies.

The hedging process involves identifying the risk to be mitigated and selecting the most suitable hedging instrument to address that risk. The choice of hedging instrument will depend on the nature of the risk, the risk profile of the investor or company, and the specific characteristics of the investment or income stream to be protected.

Once the hedging instrument has been selected, the investor or company will establish a position in said instrument, so that the variations in the value of the hedging position compensate, at least in part, the fluctuations in the value of the investment or income to be protected.

The relationship between the variation in the value of the hedging position and the variation in the value of the protected investment or income is known as the “hedging ratio”. An optimal hedging ratio seeks to balance protection against risk and the cost of hedging.

A practical example of hedging would be that of an investor who owns shares of a company and wants to protect against a possible drop in the price of the shares. This investor could buy put options on the company’s shares, which would give him the right to sell the shares at a certain price in the future. If the price of the shares falls, the investor would suffer losses in his stock portfolio, but these losses would be compensated, at least in part, by the gains in the put options.

It is important to note that hedging does not guarantee total risk elimination or necessarily generate large gains. The main objective of hedging is to limit losses and provide a certain degree of financial protection in case of adverse events.

Find out more about hedging instruments

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Summary: examples of hedging positions

To close this discussion and facilitate a better understanding of the concept, let’s examine some examples of hedging positions in everyday situations.

Let’s imagine a company that imports raw materials from another country. The company is exposed to the risk of fluctuation in the price of the raw material and to the risk of exchange in the currency of the country of origin.

To protect against these risks, the company could use futures contracts with a set, predetermined price of the raw material and the exchange rate in the future. In this way, if the price of the raw material increases or the foreign currency appreciates, the losses in the value of the local currency would be compensated by the gains in the hedging positions.

Another example would be an investor who owns shares of a company and wants to protect against a possible drop in the price of the shares.

As mentioned earlier, this investor could buy put options on the company’s shares. If the price of the shares falls, the losses in his stock portfolio would be compensated, at least in part, by the gains in the put options.

Finally, let’s consider an investment fund that has a diversified portfolio of bonds from different countries. The fund is exposed to the risk of fluctuation in interest rates. To protect against this risk, the fund could use interest rate swap contracts, exchanging fixed-rate bond cash flows for variable-rate bond cash flows. If interest rates rise, the value of fixed-rate bonds would decrease, but this loss would be offset by gains in the swap contract.

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