constructing a hedge, it is important to match the cash flow of the underlying position. For
example, for a seller who agrees to sell 10,000 barrels of oil in 1 month’s time via a forward
contract, a good hedge would be a forward contract where he agrees to buy 10,000 barrels of oil
in 1 month’s time that matches the cash flow of the underlying position. A forward contract to
buy 15,000 barrels of oil in 3 months’ time would be a less ideal hedge. However, matching cash
flow of the underlying position may be a difficult task if the underlying position is made up of
tens of thousands of cash flows that follow a complex schedule. In this situation, the manager
can still aggregate risks and construct a hedge that offsets the aggregated risks. For example, in
considering a hedging program for a portfolio of forward trades with maturity dates up to 10
years, the manager would ask, “How much money would the portfolio make, or lose, when