Which of the following represents the best strategy for the manager to hedge his risk according to his views?

An equity manager holds a portfolio valued at $10m which has a beta of 1.1. He believes the market may see a dip in the coming weeks and wishes to eliminate his market exposure temporarily. Market index futures are available and the current futures notional on these is $50,000 per contract.

Which of the following represents the best strategy for the manager to hedge his risk according to his views?
A . Sell 200 futures contracts
B . Buy 220 futures contracts
C . Sell 220 futures contracts
D . Liquidate his portfolio as soon as possible

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

The number of futures contracts to sell are equal to $10m x 1.1/$50,000 = 220. Liquidating his portfolio would reduce the beta to zero, but would also get rid of the bets he wants to play on. Therefore Choice ‘c’ is the correct answer.

(Note that futures and spot prices generally move together allowing futures positions to be used for hedging the risk against movement in spot prices. However there is a basis risk between spot and futures, therefore the a perfect hedge is never possible with futures. If interest rates move a great deal, spot and futures prices may diverge. Of course, this risk is generally quite low but may become amplified with large leveraged portfolios. Just something to be aware of.)