• English
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • Tiếng Việt
  • ไทย
  • Indonesia
Subscribe

Hedge: What It Is and How It Works

Jimmy Khan

Nov 07, 2022 16:45

微信截图_20221107163459.png

Hedge: What Is It?

In finance, to hedge is to take an opposite position in a security or investment to balance out an existing holding's price risk. Therefore, a trade undertaken to lower the risk of unfavorable price changes in another asset is called a hedge. A hedge often entails taking the opposite position in a security related to or based on the asset being hedged.


Because of how more or less precisely defined the relationship between the two is, derivatives can be useful hedging tools against their underlying assets. Securities known as derivatives fluctuate by one or more underlying assets. Options, swaps, futures, and forward contracts are some examples. Stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, indices, and interest rates are examples of underlying assets.


Derivatives can be used to create a trading strategy where a loss on one investment is compensated or lessened by a gain on a similar derivative.

What a Hedge Does

A hedge can be compared to an insurance policy in several ways. If you buy a house in a flood-prone area, you should purchase flood insurance to hedge your investment against the danger of flooding. In this case, you cannot stop a flood from happening, but you can make plans in advance to lessen the risks if one does.


Hedging involves a trade-off between risk and reward; it lowers possible danger and limits prospective gains. In other words, hedging isn't free. In the example of the flood insurance policy, the monthly premiums mount up, and if there is no flood, there is no reimbursement to the policyholder. However, most people would prefer to accept that expected, limited loss than abruptly lose their roof over their heads.


Hedging functions in the same manner in the realm of investments. Investors and money managers use hedging strategies to lower and manage risk exposure. To strategically offset the risk of unfavorable price movements in the market, one must use a variety of tools in the financial sector.


Making another investment in a targeted and controlled manner is the greatest approach to accomplish this. Of course, there are just a few similarities to the last insurance scenario. If the policyholder had flood insurance, her losses would be fully covered, possibly minus a deductible. Hedging in the financial sector is a more complicated and unreliable science.

Using Derivatives for Hedging

Financial contracts known as derivatives have a price based on the value of an underlying security. Common derivatives contracts include futures, forwards, and options contracts.


The delta, often known as the hedge ratio, measures a derivative hedge's effectiveness. Delta is the amount that a derivative's price changes for every $1 change in the underlying asset's value.


The downside risk of the underlying security the investor wants to hedge will probably influence the specific hedging approach and the cost of hedging instruments. The cost of the hedge rises as the downside risk does. A longer-term option tied to a more volatile investment will be more expensive to hedge because downside risk tends to rise with time and with higher levels of volatility.


The higher the strike price in the STOCK example above, the more expensive the put option will be, but it will also provide more price protection. These factors can be changed to produce a cheaper choice with less protection or a more expensive one with more protection. However, from a cost-effectiveness standpoint, there comes the point where buying more price protection is not a good idea.

Example of Using a Put Option to Hedge

Put options are a common form of hedging in the financial industry. The right, but not the responsibility, to sell the underlying securities at a predetermined price on or before the expiration date is provided by a put.


For instance, if Morty purchases 100 shares of Stock PLC (STOCK) for $10 each, he may choose to protect his capital by purchasing a put option with an $8 strike price that expires in a year. Morty has the option to sell 100 shares of STOCK for $8 at any point during the following year.


Assume he pays $1, or $100 in premium, for the option. If STOCK is trading at $12 a year from now, Morty loses $100 if the option is not exercised. However, given that his unrealized gain is $100 ($100 when the cost of the put is added in), he probably won't worry. On the other side, if STOCK is currently selling at $0, Morty will execute the option and sell his shares for $8, suffering a loss of $300 ($300 when the cost of the put is added in). Without the choice, he risked losing all of his money.

Using Diversification to Hedge

Although it necessitates a certain skill level and frequently a sizeable amount of capital, using derivatives to hedge an investment allows for accurate risk predictions. Derivatives, however, are not the sole means of hedging. It's possible to strategically diversify a portfolio as a hedge, albeit crude, to help decrease some risks. For instance, Rachel might put money into a company that manufactures luxury goods and has expanding margins. But she might be concerned that a downturn will destroy the demand for ostentatious consumption. Purchasing utilities or tobacco stocks, which have the propensity to weather recessions well and produce substantial dividends, might be one strategy to counter that.


Disadvantages to this tactic: The luxury goods manufacturer would prosper if salaries were high and plenty of employment available, but few investors would be drawn to the dull countercyclical firms, which might decline as money moves to more exciting locations. The dangers are as follows: There is no assurance that the hedge and the luxury goods stock will move in opposing directions. They might both fall as a result of a single catastrophic occurrence, as they did during the financial crisis, or they might fall for two unconnected causes.


微信截图_20221107163543.png

Broadcast Hedging

Moderate price decreases are extremely frequent and highly unpredictable in the index market. Investors paying attention to this sector might be more worried about mild falls than severe ones. A bear put spread is a popular hedging method in these circumstances.


The index investor purchases a put with a higher strike price in this spread, and she then sells a put with the same expiration date and a lower strike price. The investor thus has a level of price protection equal to the difference between the two strike prices, depending on how the index performs (minus the cost). Even though this protection will probably be of a moderate level, it frequently covers a temporary decline in the index.

Hedging Risks

Hedging is a risk-reduction approach, but it's vital to remember that almost all hedging strategies have drawbacks. First, hedging is imperfect and does not ensure future success or the attenuation of losses, as was already mentioned. Investors should consider the advantages and disadvantages of hedging.

The Everyday Investor and Hedging

Hedging won't ever be an issue for most investors in their financial dealings, and it's doubtful that many investors will ever trade a derivative contract. One factor contributing to this is that long-term investors, such as those who are saving for retirement, sometimes overlook a security's daily volatility.


In these circumstances, short-term changes are not important because it is likely that an investment will increase along with the market.


There may appear to be little to no motivation for investors who are buy-and-hold investors to understand anything about hedging. It's still helpful to understand what hedging entails to better track and understand the actions of these bigger players because large companies and investment funds frequently engage in hedging practices and because these investors may follow or even be involved with these larger financial entities.

Hedging Against Risk: What Is It?

An approach for reducing the risks associated with financial assets is hedging. It uses market tactics or financial instruments to reduce the risk of unfavorable price changes. To put it another way, investors use a trade-in of another investment to protect one investment.

What Are a Few Hedging Examples?

Hedging strategies include:

  • Buying property insurance.

  • Utilizing derivatives like options or futures to balance losses in underlying investment assets.

  • Taking on new foreign exchange positions to prevent losses from changes in one's current currency holdings while maintaining some upside potential.

Is Hedging a Science with Flaws?

Hedging is difficult in investing and is viewed as a flawed science. The ideal hedge would eliminate risk from a position or portfolio. In other words, the hedge has a 100% negative correlation to the asset at risk. Even the ideal hedge, however, is not free of expense.

微信截图_20221107163626.png

Do you need to hedge?

Hedging can be a useful tool for many businesses and professional investors to help them achieve their goals, especially for those with the appropriate resources (e.g., employees with the skill and experience needed to understand and execute hedges). However, it's crucial to understand that hedging has a potential downside if the investment employed to do so depreciates or eliminates the advantage of the underlying's rising value.


Hedging may not be the best course of action for individual investors for several reasons:

Complexity. Hedging frequently requires sophisticated investment instruments (relative to traditional investments, such as stocks and bonds). To really contemplate using hedging, you would need to have a thorough understanding of the hedging instrument. Even then, it might not be appropriate.

Cost. Hedging entails extra expenses, and a price is associated with switching positions (like purchasing options).


Effectiveness. Even if the hedger follows the plan, hedging may not be successful. Think about an airline that hedges its future jet fuel expenses, only for future jet fuel to become cheaper after the hedge is implemented. Think about a buyer of a diversified mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) as well: You might find it difficult to easily hedge only those fund components if you think they may be at risk of losing money.


Suitability. For long-term investors, hedging might not make sense. Assume, for instance, that you buy a stock intending to hold it for a long time (i.e., more than a year). After a few months, you think the stock might be at a short-term risk of loss. If you plan to retain the stock for a long time, hedging that risk exposure might not be a good idea, given the fees involved.


As a result, you might wish to manage your assets to have a diverse portfolio that is in line with your investing goals and risk tolerance. You can be protected by diversification from the unique risks associated with particular equities. Diversification is probably a more successful risk management strategy than hedging for most regular investors, even while it does not guarantee against a loss.

CFDs as a tool for hedging

Contracts for Difference, or CFDs, are agreements between two parties that state that the seller will cover the buyer's costs if there is a price difference between the asset's worth at the time the contract was signed and the asset's current value. The buyer will pay the seller any negative difference. In essence, they are a sort of derivative that allows traders to profit from price changes while reducing risk. CFDs can be used as a hedging method with success. For instance, a trader who owns McDonald's shares might open a short-term CFD to protect themselves against exposure to the stock over the long run. As a result, even if the share price declines, the investor won't suffer any losses because the CFD hedge would pay for them.

Long versus short hedges

A short hedge is a tactic to lessen a risk that manufacturers and producers have already assumed. The cost of their good or commodity is fixed, and producers can protect themselves from an anticipated decline in the price of the underlying commodity by using a short hedge. To maintain a preferred sale rate, farmers frequently pay a premium, a widespread practice in agriculture.

A long hedge protects against any potential price increases of the underlying asset. The customer is given some safety by being guaranteed a future supply with a set ceiling price, and it gives a seller the benefit of locking down a floor price.

Using diversification to hedging

Investors can reduce their risk by diversifying their portfolios. You can reduce the total impact of regional market volatility by choosing to invest in various unrelated stocks. One can mitigate the risk that a drop in one investment could negatively impact the portfolio's other assets by spreading investments across various industries and companies of various sizes. Suppose you have a diverse portfolio, for instance. In that case, your other interests in internet businesses, oil, and paper manufacturing won't be impacted by a decline in Smith's grocery store shares after weak sales results.

ETF-based hedging

ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are useful hedging tools for investors seeking to decrease market volatility's impact on their investment portfolio. They trade similarly to stocks. An ETF is a basket of assets, such as stocks, bonds, or commodities, and it typically works with a mechanism that limits price fluctuations and keeps trading close to its net worth. ETFs typically follow an index, and investors find them appealing due to their cheap costs and tax efficiency. Over 1,800 ETFs covering almost all market sectors were available by the end of 2015. They are excellent for use in a hedging strategy. They can be sold short because they are publicly traded.

Using derivatives to manage risk

One of the main financial vehicles for risk hedging is derivatives. Simply put, they are agreements between two parties that specify the cost and timing of the purchase or sale of an underlying asset. The agreement outlines precise future requirements that were previously agreed upon. By doing this, both parties have at least partially hedged against a decline in the value of their shares. There are many different types of derivatives, including futures, forwards, options, and swaps, to name a few.


Futures contracts are the most widely utilized since they are standardized and simple to trade on established exchanges.


微信截图_20221107163637.png

the conclusion

Hedging is a crucial financial concept that enables traders and investors to reduce the variety of risk exposures they encounter. A hedge is essentially an opposite or offsetting position taken and whose value will increase or decrease as the value of the underlying position does. Therefore, a hedge can be viewed as acquiring an insurance policy on an investment or portfolio. By diversifying or using closely connected assets, one can attain these offsetting positions. However, adopting a derivative, such as futures, forward, or options contract, is frequently the most popular and efficient hedge.