In: Finance
how does one hedge, or protect themselves from economic risk?
Introduction
Hedging is particularly utilized by Portfolio managers, investors, and companies to reduce their exposure to various risks like economic downturns, unsteady political climates causing impact, war, etc. In the case of financial markets, hedging against investment risk means strategically employing certain financial instruments and strategies to discout adverse price movements caused by risks. In simpler terms, investors hedge or protect one investment by making a trade in another.
Common Hedging Techniques
Derivatives are the most commonly used hedging instrument of which, the two most utilized ones are are options and futures. With these instruments, the investors and corporations can develop trading strategies where the risk of a loss in one investment is offset by a gain in a derivative.
Hedging Against Potential Economic Downturn (or Recession)
In detecting and hedging for a market recession or an economic risk triggered by a macro event (example: COVID-19 pandemic), investors should closely watch the important catalysts, including GDP, currency valuations and also the real estate markets, all of which have a high influence on the valuations of the equity markets. If negative reports occur especially in the emerging markets, there is a risk that this might lead to market losses and call for a shift in assets to safe havens and hedging strategies.