Currency-Hedged ETF
An ETF that uses currency forward contracts to cancel the exchange-rate effect, so returns track the foreign assets without the FX swing.
What it is
A currency-hedged ETF holds the same underlying foreign securities as an ordinary fund but layers on currency forward contracts — agreements to exchange one currency for another at a preset rate on a future date — to neutralize the move between the fund's trading currency and the currency the assets are priced in. The aim is that your return reflects only how the underlying stocks or bonds performed, stripped of the foreign-exchange (FX) component. The hedge is typically reset ("rolled") each month. The result tracks the foreign asset itself rather than the asset plus a currency bet.
Why it matters
Hedging removes a source of return volatility you may not want, which can be useful for shorter horizons or for bonds, where FX swings can dwarf the yield. The pitfall: hedging cuts both ways — it strips out currency gains as well as losses, so if your home currency weakens you forfeit the FX boost an unhedged fund would have captured. It also is not free: the hedge carries an ongoing cost ("hedging drag") driven by the interest-rate gap between the two currencies plus transaction costs, and because the monthly hedge is imperfect, realized tracking shortfall versus the unhedged index can be material — historically around a percentage point a year for Canadian CAD-hedged U.S.-equity ETFs.
How it's calculated
There is no single formula; the fund manager estimates the foreign-currency value of the portfolio and sells that amount forward against the home currency, then settles and re-establishes the contract on a recurring (often monthly) cycle. The pure carry cost of the hedge is approximately the interest-rate differential between the two currencies plus trading costs: when home rates exceed foreign rates the roll can add a small benefit, and when home rates are lower it adds a cost — that carry piece can be modest when the rate gap is narrow. In practice, though, realized hedging drag is usually larger because the hedge is rolled only periodically and rarely matches the portfolio's changing value perfectly; documented Canadian CAD-hedged U.S.-equity ETFs have lagged their indexes by roughly a percentage point per year once roll lag, imperfect hedging, and trading costs are included.
How Quintarthai uses it
When you research a fund or its underlying holdings on a /app/ deep-analysis page, treat a hedged version's performance as the asset return minus FX rather than a different investment thesis. Use the Knowledge Base to compare hedged vs. unhedged thinking alongside related cross-border terms.