Buying or selling significant amounts of currency can be a new and daunting prospect. It is essential to understand that when you agree to buy real estate abroad that you are exposed to 'currency risk' and you can unknowingly leave yourself open to losing thousands of dollars.

A European property priced at €500,000 would have cost USD$592,500 in mid July of 2005. By September that same property would have increased in cost to USD$630,000 due to the change in the exchange rate. That difference works out to be $37,500 or a 6.4% increase in just 2 months. This is a classic example of avoidable currency risk. If the Euros had been purchased or reserved in July through booking a forward contract, the cost would have been fixed and thus the currency risk eliminated.

HIFX will walk you through several different strategies that you can implement in order to protect against currency risk including locking in today's exchange rate for up to 24 months FOR FREE. To learn more contact a consultant or request more information from the HIFX web site. Currency Services