Need a Hedging Component in Your International Assets? June 11, 2021 One of the challenges with investing overseas is the susceptibility of the local currency of international markets, warranting a dollar-hedging component with exchange traded funds (ETFs) like the The prevailing sentiment in the capital markets is that an improving economy will eventually cause the U.S. Federal Reserve to shift its interest rate policy. Rising rates typically strengthen the dollar, causing foreign investors to ditch their local currencies in favor of dollar-denominated assets with higher yields. As noted in an Investopedia article, “a weakening currency can drag down positive returns or exacerbate negative returns in an investment portfolio. For example, Canadian investors who were invested in the S&P 500 from January 2000 to May 2009 had returns of -44.1% in Canadian dollar terms (compared with returns for -26% for the S&P 500 in U.S. dollar terms), because they were holding assets in a depreciating currency (the U.S. dollar, in this case).”