Layered hedging

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Financial risk management - risk response - foreign exchange - hedging.

A layered foreign exchange hedging programme hedges increasing proportions of foreign exchange exposures, as they come closer to maturity.

For example, six-month, 12-month and 18-month hedges might be executed in layered proportions, such as 80%, 50% and 20% respectively.


Once the initial six-month (80%) hedge matures, the original 12-month hedge (50%), which now has six months left to run, is topped up to 80% using a new 30% hedge.

In turn, the original 18-month hedge (20%), which now has 12 months to run, is topped up to 50%, also using a new 30% hedge.

A new 18-month hedge then captures 20% of the exposure, and so on.


A layered approach offers reduced volatility as - over time - it achieves a blended/averaged forward rate.

(Source - Ashley Garvin - Harness your hedges - The Treasurer.)


"We have a layered hedging policy, which guides us on how we hedge specific exposures. It is difficult to time specific events in the market; instead, we aim to average over a period of time."

(Daniel Wong EMBA MScFin AMCT FCCA, head of corporate treasury, British American Tobacco - January 2024.)


See also


Treasurer article