Correct Answer: Hedging is a tool to minimize the risks It is thus like an 'insurance' where one pays a premium but gets an assured amount in case of some uncertain event to the extent of the loss actually suffered on an equally opposite position for which the hedge was done Thus, hedger is different from arbitrageur and speculators, as the intention here is not to maximize the profit but to minimize the loss Eg In Capital Markets, suppose an investor has an equity portfolio of Rs 2 lacs and the portfolio consists of all the major stocks of NIFTY He thinks the market will improve in the long run but might go on a downside in the shortrun NIFTY today stands at 4300 To minimize the risk of downfall, he enters into an option contract by buying NIFTY-PUT of strike 4300 at a premium of, say, Rs 100 Thus, the actual amount paid is Rs 5,000(lot size of NIFTY is 50) Also, the number of NIFTY-PUTs to be bought will vary on the beta of the portfolio so as to completely hedge the positon
