Flow Traders Interview Question

'How to hedge an ETF?'

Interview Answers

Anonymous

Aug 9, 2021

I am no expert, but as fas as I understand you could hedge it using currency. For example, if you buy an ETF priced in USD (like the VOO) but you are a european citizen, the returns must be converted back to EUR. If EUR starts deppreciating your EUR equivalent would be higher, but if EUR starts appreciating then your returns in EUR would be lower than before. What you can do is to buy EUR. This way, when EUR deppreciates and you lose value on that latter investment, it would be compensated by increased returns on the ETF when you convert it back to EUR from USD. On the other hand, if EUR appreciates and the returns on the ETF diminish, you would profit from those EUR you bought and it would hedge the currency differences. I do not know if I am right, but that was my thought process.

4

Anonymous

Jun 8, 2025

I think you misunderstood it, from a market making standpoint when you are quoting bids and ask of an etf and you sell it so someone buys it from you, you are short the etf, buying the underlying of the etf would be a hedge. Maybe this clarifies the idea.