Hedging Transaction

What is a Hedging Transaction?

In finance, a hedging transaction is a strategic action that investors use to reduce the risk of losing money while executing their investing strategy. There are many types of hedging transactions, but they generally involve derivatives, such as options or futures contracts. They are frequently used for businesses looking to lower their overall portfolio risk.

What is a Hedge?

Before we go into the fundamentals of hedging transactions, it is important to first understand what a hedge is. In simple terms, a hedge refers to an investment that protects one from risky situations and transactions.

Hedging is like insurance in that it is utilized to minimize the chance that assets will lose value while limiting the loss to a known and specific amount if there is a loss.

Another similarity to insurance is that the investor pays a premium amount, and the loss will only be the value of the deductible.

A hedge can be executed using various types of financial instruments ranging from stocks, insurance, swaps, options, forward contracts, and over-the-counter products. Derivatives, which are financial contracts that derive value from an underlying asset, are especially popular among investors.

The second choice of a derivative is an option, which allows one the right to buy or sell stock during a specified period at a particular price.

If an investor bought stock but was nervous that the price would drop, he or she could hedge the risk by purchasing a put option, which would allow them to sell the stock at their purchasing price instead of the market price and protect themselves from losing money.

In hedging transactions, the premium paid for hedging can work both ways. If the price of the stock falls, the hedge pays off, and the risk of loss would be greatly reduced. However, if the price remains the same or increases, then the premium would be a sunk cost.

In general, hedging is viewed in a positive light, especially if there is a medium or high probability that there is a significant chance of loss, as the costs involved with hedging are much lower than the potential losses themselves if a negative situation occurs.

Another scenario that may occur is if the investment or stock rises in value, but only by a small amount. The issue here is that the small gain that occurs will be canceled out by the cost of the premium paid to hedge, and the investor will end up not making any money.

Goals of Hedging Transactions

The primary goal of hedging transactions is to mitigate or limit losses if the initial investing strategy is flawed. First, it is achieved by reducing the risk of economic loss due to changes in the value, yield, price, cash flow, or quantity of assets or liabilities acquired by the insurer in the present or intends to acquire in the future.

Second, hedging transactions aim to lower the risk of economic loss due to changes or fluctuations in the currency exchange rate of the degree of exposure to assets or liabilities in a foreign currency acquired by the insurer.

Diversification and Hedging

Diversification refers to the purchase of a variety of assets unrelated to one another, and the benefit here is that their prices will not fluctuate together.

For example, in the purchase of stocks, if one stock price were to collapse due to the bankruptcy of a company, one would not lose a large amount invested entirely in one single entity or corporation.

Diversification does not offer direct protection that derivatives or options provide but do not require the premium required to be paid for them.

Related Readings

CFI offers the Capital Markets & Securities Analyst (CMSA)® certification program for those looking to take their careers to the next level. To keep learning and developing your knowledge base, please explore the additional relevant resources below:

• Hedge Fund Strategies
• Derivatives Market
• Hedging
• Futures Contract
• See all derivatives resources