By Lawrence Delevingne
Wall Street is concerned enough about war breaking out in Ukraine that investment firms have sharply increased the insurance they buy to protect their assets in the region.
Last month, the percentage of hedge funds that purchased “deep downside” protection—a financial bet that would gain if there is a significant drop in global stocks—hit a two-year low of less than 13 percent. That spiked to more than 17 percent as of Monday, according to Credit Suisse data.
“There’s been an uptick in hedging activity—we’ve definitely seen funds add to … hedges in case the conflict escalates,” said Jon Kinderlerer, head of risk and portfolio advisory for the bank’s prime brokerage division.
ARTUR SHVARTS / EPA
Hedge fund clients of Credit Suisse had less than 0.5 percent of their portfolios exposed to Russia and Ukraine as of Monday. The real risk is from the likely global economic ripples in the event of more serious Russian military moves in Ukraine.
Related articles
- Hedge Funds Are Buying Up War Insurance On Russia-Ukraine Conflict (businessinsider.com)
- Crimea Lawmakers Vote to Leave Ukraine for Russia, Set Referendum Date (earlystart.blogs.cnn.com)
Categories: Escalation / Destabilization Conflict
Engineering Evil 