Hedging is an increasingly popular terms in the investment markets. Though not many people actually enter into hedging, most of them have already heard of the term. In fact, to protect yourself, you should at least have the very basic knowledge of hedging. Therefore, let us now know more about hedging and a way to better protect you from risks.

Why do you need a hedge? It is because every investment is linked to certain level of risk, a hedge is your insurance that helps you reduce the risks. The higher the risk, the more likely the investors or the companies will enter into hedging. Different types of hedging are available and the common ones are foreign currency swap, interest rate swap, futures hedging and hedging for stock price.

You have to remember the golden rule that hedging is not a way to help you earn more money. It is a tool to help you reduce the risk. By that, you will invest in two different products that are negatively correlated. The risk is reduced by the offset between the gain and the loss from each of the investment. Or, when investment A is in a gain position, investment is on the contrary a loss position. The gain offsets the loss.

When the risk is higher, the earning or opportunity is likely to be higher, too. But, by hedging, the risk is reduced, therefore, the highest possible earning is also reduced. That means, when you are gaining on investment A, the gain is reduced by the loss in investment B. On the other hand, if you are making loss on investment A, the loss is reduced by gain in investment B.

To illustrate more clearly, we can now assume a case with interest rate swap. Assume that you have borrowed a $60,000 loan from a bank. No doubt, the bank will charge you interest say at LIBOR + 2%. As an interest payer, you must be concerned that the interest rate may increase. Therefore, you enter into an interest rate swap with the bank to receive a floating interest income at LIBOR + 2%.

When it comes to such hedging instrument, you have a choice to decide if you want to fully hedge or partly hedge. You can enter into a $30,000 hedge or a full hedge of $60,000. Why you want to do so? It is because there is tradeoff between you risks and opportunities. For simple explanation, I assume you have entered into a $60,000 hedge that you receive interest income.

When the market rate goes up, you have to pay more for the loan, but on the other hand, you receive more from the interest rate swap. On the other hand, if the interest rate goes down, you pay less, but you receive less as your interest income. To note that, hedging may not help you eliminate the risk but only reduce, therefore, you cannot expect that the interest pay out should be exactly the same as interest income.

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