Global Savings Group - Rocket Internet SE venture currency risk management exposure. This thesis covers the theory around currency risk management, putting it into practice with the real case of GSG currency risk exposure. In the end I aim to verify if currency risk affects the performance of SMEs, and if such type of companies (in this case the GSG) are aware of such exposure and if they adopt any strategies in order to reduce such exposure.

ABSTRACT With the trend toward global economic and financial integration, liberalization of financial market, increasing of new fashioned financial products and capital mobility, banks may consciously or inadvertently hold large open foreign exchange positions. It in turns may suffer loses due to adverse exchange rate movements. Thus, the bank may even seriously damage to their capital base. Therefore, study in foreign exposure problem has special and important meaning for banks operation and risk management. Although The Basle Committee has compromised the regulation of measuring foreign exchange position ¡V NAP and GAP to BAP, in view of the theory of studying such position measurement, it¡¦s necessary to develop a more generalized concept of weighted aggregate position (WAP) to make it closely to ¡§theoretically correct position¡¨. An empirical test of a typical local foreign exchange bank¡¦s foreign currency position appeared that both BAP and GAP provide a more significant effect for the foreign exchange exposure than NAP. Nevertheless, by considering the cost of hedge, proposing of BAP may be more practical than GAP.

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> Recent years’ globalization and expanding currency markets have increased the importance of financial managers.  A multinational company handles different currencies through export and imports, and is thus exposed to currency fluctuations. Awareness and assessment of risk management are issues more important not to ignore.</p><p><strong>Research question:</strong> <em>How does the multinational company SCA indentify currency risk exposure, and how does the financial management relate to it?</em></p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The aim of this study is to get a deeper understanding of the currency risk management at a Swedish multinational company and how the individual manager identifies exposure. Furthermore, what means that exist for assessing the exposure and how the management choose to reduce the risk will be investigated.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> This case study has a qualitative approach, and is mainly based on two unstructured interviews that have been conducted with the financial mangers of SCA.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The authors found that SCA identifies different kinds of exposures related to currency risk. SCA is equipped with organizational strategies as well as practical methods for reducing the risk exposure and positioning themselves in line with company framework and policies.</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong>:                   Currency risk management is a subject of great complexity since exposures interrelate and alternates with time and as global economy changes. A company could hold a framework of policies, strategies and instruments that will provide their financial managers with means for risk assessment and management. Ultimately the responsibility is still in the hand of the managers.</p>

<p>Title: Corporate Strategies for Currency Risk Management</p><p>ackground:Currency fluctuations are a global phenomenon, and can affect multinational</p><p>companies directly through their cash flow, financial result and company</p><p>valuation. The exposure to currency risks might however be covered against or</p><p>‘hedged’, as it is called, by different external and internal corporate strategies.</p><p>However, some of these strategies might include a risk themselves as they can</p><p>be expensive and uncertain. It is therefore an interesting question whether if</p><p>these strategies are actually applied in practice, and if so which strategies are</p><p>favored and why.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to present and explain the different external and</p><p>internal hedging techniques and to see which, or if any, strategies are favored by</p><p>large, medium-sized and small companies and for what reasons.</p><p>Method: Regarding primary data, interviews with a mostly qualitative profile have been</p><p>used to discuss the subject with respondents from six companies, diversified in</p><p>size using the classification from the European Commission. Secondary data has</p><p>been collected through literature from the university library and internet sources.</p><p>Conclusion: Large companies primarily use the strategy of forwards, since they carry high</p><p>elements of risk aversion, predictability and simplicity. For internal strategies,</p><p>large companies prefer netting. Small companies extensively use matching</p><p>because the routine is easy to establish and handle. Medium-sized companies</p><p>can use either one so much depends on the risk-aversion and cash-flow</p><p>management of the company.</p><p>Large companies continuously regard currency risk a big factor, whereas small</p><p>companies have just recently started due to the dollar depreciation. Translation</p><p>exposure should be considered a big risk regardless of the company size, if the</p><p>company is the main one in a corporate group. Finally, the subject of</p><p>currency risk management is very theoretically broad, but its appliance in</p><p>practice is very slim as only a few strategies are actually favored and frequently</p><p>used.</p>

Introduction: Recent years’ globalization and expanding currency markets have increased the importance of financial managers.  A multinational company handles different currencies through export and imports, and is thus exposed to currency fluctuations. Awareness and assessment of risk management are issues more important not to ignore. Research question: How does the multinational company SCA indentify currency risk exposure, and how does the financial management relate to it? Purpose: The aim of this study is to get a deeper understanding of the currency risk management at a Swedish multinational company and how the individual manager identifies exposure. Furthermore, what means that exist for assessing the exposure and how the management choose to reduce the risk will be investigated. Method: This case study has a qualitative approach, and is mainly based on two unstructured interviews that have been conducted with the financial mangers of SCA. Findings: The authors found that SCA identifies different kinds of exposures related to currency risk. SCA is equipped with organizational strategies as well as practical methods for reducing the risk exposure and positioning themselves in line with company framework and policies. Conclusion:                   Currency risk management is a subject of great complexity since exposures interrelate and alternates with time and as global economy changes. A company could hold a framework of policies, strategies and instruments that will provide their financial managers with means for risk assessment and management. Ultimately the responsibility is still in the hand of the managers.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the currency risk management at Superfos and analyse how it can be improved.

Background: In an increasingly globalized environment, corporations perform transactions across borders on a day-to-day basis. As multinational corporations expand their businesses the number of currencies in their operations increases. The consequence of operating with several currencies is the risk associated with currency fluctuations. Sandvik AB is a worldwide corporation where activities are conducted through representation in more than 130 countries. Currency exposures are controlled through risk management where financial derivatives are applied to protect the corporation from potential losses caused by fluctuations. Sandvik AB recently implemented a hedging strategy entitled Layered Basket Option hedging. The strategy is a combination of a layered- and a basket option approach to maximize the effect of the hedge. There is a limited amount of previous research regarding Layered Basket Option hedging and Sandvik AB is the first corporation to actively practice this strategy. Purpose: The purpose is to investigate and provide information about how currency risk most effectively is hedged for the multinational corporation Sandvik AB. Furthermore, we want to evaluate if Sandvik’s recently implemented hedging strategy, Layered Basket Option hedging, is the best-suited strategy for them and if there are any improvements to be made. This thesis will further investigate the importance of currency hedging for multinational corporations, which are dependent on reporting to their stakeholders. Hopefully, this thesis will also facilitate the communication of Sandvik’s currency strategies throughout the organization and make it more comprehensible. Method: Exchange rates on daily basis for the period 2002-2012 were collected from Bank of Canada and Reuters database. The collected data was thereafter used as a basis to perform calculations to determine if Layered Basket Option hedging is the optimal solution for Sandvik AB. Conclusion: The results of this study highlight the benefits from applying a Layered Basket Option hedging strategy and the strategy succeeds to reduce the volatility caused by currency fluctuation. The results indicate that the combination of a layered- and a basket option approach successfully creates a suitable strategy for Sandvik AB. Furthermore, this thesis has recognized that there exists room for improvement by actively allocating currencies according to their weights and correlations to fully exploit the effects from the strategy.

<p><p> </p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the currency risk management at Superfos and analyse how it can be improved.</p><p> </p></p><p> </p>

Title: Corporate Strategies for Currency Risk Management ackground:Currency fluctuations are a global phenomenon, and can affect multinational companies directly through their cash flow, financial result and company valuation. The exposure to currency risks might however be covered against or ‘hedged’, as it is called, by different external and internal corporate strategies. However, some of these strategies might include a risk themselves as they can be expensive and uncertain. It is therefore an interesting question whether if these strategies are actually applied in practice, and if so which strategies are favored and why. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to present and explain the different external and internal hedging techniques and to see which, or if any, strategies are favored by large, medium-sized and small companies and for what reasons. Method: Regarding primary data, interviews with a mostly qualitative profile have been used to discuss the subject with respondents from six companies, diversified in size using the classification from the European Commission. Secondary data has been collected through literature from the university library and internet sources. Conclusion: Large companies primarily use the strategy of forwards, since they carry high elements of risk aversion, predictability and simplicity. For internal strategies, large companies prefer netting. Small companies extensively use matching because the routine is easy to establish and handle. Medium-sized companies can use either one so much depends on the risk-aversion and cash-flow management of the company. Large companies continuously regard currency risk a big factor, whereas small companies have just recently started due to the dollar depreciation. Translation exposure should be considered a big risk regardless of the company size, if the company is the main one in a corporate group. Finally, the subject of currency risk management is very theoretically broad, but its appliance in practice is very slim as only a few strategies are actually favored and frequently used.

Most firms are actively assessing the financial risks exposure and do determine a policy for the hedging activities. It is not solely the risk aversive attitude from the managers that need to be overlooked, but to provide sufficient information to the shareholder is desirable for minimizing the gap of information asymmetry, which is by itself considered a tool for value creation (Bergstrand et al. 2009:45-47). To narrow this gap, listed Swedish companies have since 2005 been required to disclose their financial risk in their Annual Reports.  By using a quantitative approach the researcher will review the financial risk note in Annual Reports of 2008 to identify characteristics and determinant variables on firms depending on whether they utilize currency derivatives or not. An independent two-sample t-test has showed statistical significance that there difference of the means regarding size, FX exposure and leverage between users and non-users of currency derivatives. The means of currency derivatives users were higher for Size and FX exposure, while lower for leverage. A positive correlation between a firm’s size and FX exposure was found, suggesting that the determinant for hedging FX exposure could be explained by the size of the firm and vice versa.