DO INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS IN THE UK ADOPT A DUAL STRATEGY FOR MANAGING FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISK?

Abstract

In recent years, the gradual increase in international portfolio diversification within the UK institutional investment community has led to a growing need to manage foreign exchange (FX) risk. This paper reports on the findings of a postal questionnaire survey relating to FX risk management practices in UK institutional investment organisations. The findings demonstrate an increasing awareness of the FX risk management problem and indicate that UK investment institutions actively manage FX risk within their investment portfolios. The paper also focuses on the interesting question of whether UK institutional investors manage their own portfolio's FX risk, simultaneously concerning themselves with their investee companies’ FX risk management practices. Overall, the findings indicate that institutional investors adopt adual strategyfor managing FX risk; not only managing their own FX risk, but also requiring that their investee companies manage FX risk. There is also evidence to suggest that the institutional investors require their investee companies to disclose information relating to their FX risk management policies.