Management of FX exposures
At the highest level of inquiry in the survey, 79% of respondents stated that they
have exposure to trade related or financing related non-functional currency
exposures. The survey targeted behaviors in these two areas because in our
experience, most companies that actively manage or hedge foreign exchange
exposures are affected primarily by ongoing activities in these categories.
Those who indicated that they do not have exposure in either area generally
come from industry groupings such as government, education, and health care,
where commercial activities may involve foreign exchange, but do not require
the same hedging and risk management needs as most respondents from the
manufacturing, wholesale trade, and technology sectors.
Risk management objectives
Foreign exchange risk can affect a company’s operations in a number of ways.
In order to measure at a high level, the most important risk management
objectives among companies, we asked respondents to rank five variables
from most to least important. The most important objective was to eliminate
FX gains and losses, with 37% of respondents ranking this first. The next most
important objective was to minimize earnings volatility, with 26% ranking this
first. When first and second rankings are added together for each objective,
minimizing earnings volatility at a sum of 58% becomes the most important
objective, followed by eliminating FX gains and losses at 56%.