Wild FX Swings Force Corporate Treasurers Into Options Market

Global companies battered by last year’s currency swings are taking the profit hits to heart and revamping their hedging strategies in turn.

More than three-quarters of senior finance leaders in the US and the UK surveyed in January by MillTechFX, a division of currency manager Millennium Global Investments Ltd., experienced losses stemming from unhedged currency exposures last year. That dent to the bottom line is leading firms to double down on options, which give them the right to buy or sell a currency — but don’t oblige them — and extend the duration of their foreign exchange hedges. ...