In this paper, ex ante efficient portfolio selection strategies are developed to realize
potential gains from international diversification under flexible exchange rates. It is
shown that exchange rate uncertainty is a largely nondiversiflable factor adversely
affecting the performance of international portfolios. Therefore, it is essential to
effectively control exchange rate volatility. For that purpose, two methods of exchange
risk reduction are simultaneously employed: multicurrency diversification and hedging
via forward exchange contracts. The empirical findings show that international portfolio
selection strategies designed to control both estimation and exchange risks almost
consistently outperform the U.S. domestic portfolio in out-of-sample periods