Merton Electronic Corporation

This case shows us that apart from transaction, translation and economic exposure to currency risk, firms also have the very real strategic impact on their competitive position from competitive exposure. Apart from GM’s exposure to the yen which is reflected in their financial statements, their competitive position vis-à-vis Japanese manufacturers is affected by a potentially declining yen. This is because a declining yen reduces the Japanese manufacturers’ $ cost, enabling them to pass on some of the benefit to US customers and thus taking some of GM’s market share. This will impact GM’s top and bottom line. However, GM has a difficult decision regarding managing this risk.

Hedging is a significant measure of financial risk management. Since the 1970s, the increasing number of powerful companies started to control the risk of the exchange rate, the interest rate and commodity by using financial derivatives. ISDA (2013) based on the Global 500 Annual Report 2012 survey found that 88 percent of companies use foreign exchange derivatives. Modigliani & Miller (1958) believed that if the financial markets were under perfect conditions, for instance, there was no agency costs, asymmetric information, taxes and transaction costs, hedging would not increase the company 's value because investors can hedge by themselves. However, a large number of practical studies have shown that hedging is beneficial

Ms. Cohen’s argument was irrelevant because not only did she provide any supportive facts, but she is also incorrect because the hedging program did not create any new risks. In fact, it was perfectly implemented since it reduced the firm’s foreign currency fluctuation risk as seen above.

In the 1990s, one of the largest and most successful companies in the world was Intel. For PC business, Intel was a significant and beneficial hardware provider.

The current 50% hedging policy executed at the fund level has served well for OTPP for the past ten years, contributing to the fund’s positive returns. The FX Hedge Program not only has minimized the downside risk, but has also limited the upside potential. If OTPP decided not to implement a hedging program in 1996, they would have lost about $983 million CAD over the ten year period (1995-2005) which is valued at 2% of the portfolio. With the hedging program, OTPP was able to reduce the overall loss to about $469 million CAD, but also limited the gain from the depreciation of the pound.(Exhibit 1) Hedging is an excellent short-term risk minimizing strategy for long term investors, sustaining a continual payout of pensions during volatile times in OTPP’s invested currency markets. Currently, approximately 21% of OTPP’s net assets are exposed to foreign currency risk. Consequently, it is essential that OTPP maintain a risk management program of hedging, as slight currency fluctuations can significantly affect the value of the fund. Similarly to continual renewal of swaps, hedging can be a very expensive risk management strategy.

General Motors Corporation, the world’s largest automaker, has an extensive global outreach, which places the firm in competition with automakers worldwide, and subjects itself to significant exchange rate exposure. In particular, despite most of its revenues and production being derived from North America, depreciating yen rates pose problems for the firm indirectly through economic exposure. While GM possesses ‘passive’ hedging strategies for balance sheet and income statement exposures, management has not yet quantified or recognized solutions to possible losses from the indirect competitive exposure it now shared with Japanese automakers in the U.S import

The PC industry has started to develop fast in the 80 's when IBM launched its first PC series and later on when numerous small companies entered the market. PC is a new product and companies had to create the demand to it from the scratch.

This case explores the operating exposure of Jaguar PLC in 1984, just as the government is about to relinquish control and take the company public via an IPO. The primary concern of the CFO is that Jaguar sells over 50% of its cars in the US, while its production costs and factories are U.K.-based. This currency mismatch creates operating exposure for the firm that needs to be hedged.

The PCs became a commodity. Microsoft grew to be the leader in the operating system market continuing to develop their Windows GUI line. With Windows, software standards have been established allowing software developers to certify their products to meet Windows requirements and deliver controlled performance. In addition, the PCs allowed numerous hardware manufacturers to

Had Dozier’s management considered hedging their currency exposure on December 3, 1985, the day the bid was submitted, they would have been able to enter into the following contracts:

This case explores the operating exposure of Jaguar PLC in 1984, just as the government is about to relinquish control and take the company public via an IPO. The primary concern of the CFO is that Jaguar sells over 50% of its cars in the US, while its production costs and factories are U.K.-based. This currency mismatch creates operating exposure for the firm that needs to be hedged.

If the company chooses not to hedge the costs, and the dollar weakens against the euro reaching a rate of USD 1,48/EUR, then it will encounter losses of $6,500,000 (Exhibit 1). On the other hand, if the dollar strengthens to the level of USD 1,01/EUR, then the company will register a gain of $5,250,000. (Exhibit 3)

Global Electronics, Inc. (GEI), headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, designs, manufactures, and markets discrete power semiconductors and analog, digital, mixed-signal, and radiation-hardened integrated circuits for signal processing and power-control applications. The company employs about 2,300 people at its three U.S. fabrication facilities (located in Huntsville, Alabama; Evansville, Indiana; and Reading, Pennsylvania), and has 4,000 employees at its assembly and test facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1999, GEI 's profitability came down with operating losses reaching $100 million on sales of approximately $650 million, causing management concern about the accuracy of the company 's standard cost system.

Current Strategy. The company has been hedging the US dollar long position by estimating its annual US dollar sales and hedging that exposure by purchasing put options on the US dollar (the right to sell US dollars for euros at a specific exchange rate). The company has been purchasing these options in what it refers to as a “three-year rolling hedge” in which it hedges expected US dollar sales three years out

Those expenses act as a natural hedge that decreases the total exposure of Aspen to foreign exchange risk. For its revenues and expenses, after “natural hedging”, the overall exposure of Aspen to foreign exchange risk is $9,484,000, with Belgium