FX risk management and hedging policy
Mapping real currency exposure against cash flow, liabilities and credit, then building a hedging policy (forwards, FX options, collars and combinations) matched to cash-flow certainty and time horizon.
Financial risk management · since 1978
Shmuel Berger Financial risk management, FX and commodity hedging
Over four decades in the financial markets: from the trading floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange to advising dozens of Israeli companies on currency, interest-rate and commodity exposure. Today he advises several large Israeli companies and works directly opposite bank dealing rooms on an ongoing basis. Independent advice, with no affiliation to any product, bank or asset manager.
1978Entered the financial markets, at Bank Hapoalim
1983–87Market maker on the CBOE floor, Chicago
~1B ILSFoundation for which he served as financial manager
DozensCompanies advised on exposure and linkage balances
Profile
From the trading floor in Chicago to managing the financial risk of dozens of companies
Shmuel Berger is an independent consultant specialising in financial risk management, currency (FX) and commodity hedging, and investment advisory.
He holds a degree in economics and business administration (M.B.A.) and completed a specialisation in financial derivatives at the University of Chicago in 1983. He began his career at Bank Hapoalim, managing the credit department for the Tel Aviv region between 1978 and 1983, and went on to spend four years as a market maker on the trading floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Returning to Israel, he headed marketing and the derivatives desk at Clal Investment, and in 1991 founded Mirvachim Capital Markets Ltd., a firm specialising in financial risk management that advised dozens of Israeli companies on currency exposure and linkage balances over some two decades.
Today Shmuel advises several large Israeli companies, and works directly opposite bank dealing rooms on an ongoing basis during execution.
He also served as financial manager of the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation, an approximately one-billion-shekel fund. Since 2007 he has practised independently, with no affiliation to any product, bank or asset manager.
Education
B.A. Economics & Business Administration (M.B.A.) · Bank Hapoalim management programme · Financial derivatives specialisation, University of Chicago, 1983.
B.A. Economics & Business Administration (M.B.A.) · Bank Hapoalim management programme · Financial derivatives specialisation, University of Chicago, 1983.
Services
What the engagement covers
Not a one-off recommendation, but a policy: mapping the exposure, selecting the instruments, supervising execution opposite the bank, and tracking both the market and your actual cash flow over time.
Commodity, energy and import-input hedging
Protection against movements in raw materials, fuel, freight and imported inputs: the areas where a few percentage points erase an entire margin.
Execution supervision at bank dealing rooms
Presence during conversions and transactions opposite bank dealing rooms, verifying that pricing, spread and terms match live market levels and what was agreed.
Investment advisory and instrument review
Support for investment committees, estate funds and institutional bodies: understanding the instruments, testing their fit to investment policy, and reviewing what is being offered.
Ongoing macro assessments
Analysis of significant shifts across capital-market systems, read specifically against your own exposures rather than as a general market review.
Preparation and review meetings
Regular sessions with management and finance to track market developments, review the use of financial instruments, and adjust policy to changing conditions.
USD rate
Nobody knows where it will be in a year
A year ago
3.40
Today
2.98
In a year
?
Nobody knows for certain. That is exactly why you hedge the exposure, rather than guess it.
Volatility isn't a tail scenario, it's the everyday reality. That is exactly the exposure a proper hedging policy is meant to manage.
The rate updates automatically from an external data source (Frankfurter / ECB) and reflects a daily reference rate, not real-time intraday volatility.
Career
Four decades, in order
1978-1983
Bank Hapoalim
Credit department manager, Tel Aviv region. Graduate of the Bank Hapoalim management programme.
1983
University of Chicago
Specialisation in financial derivatives.
1983-1987
Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
Market maker on the exchange trading floor.
1989-1991
Clal Investment
Head of marketing and of the derivatives desk.
1991-2007
Mirvachim Capital Markets Ltd. · owner and manager
A financial risk management firm that advised dozens of companies on currency exposure and linkage balances across some two decades.
January 2008
“The Collapse of the American Dream” · TheMarker
While Davos was still trading in unrestrained optimism, published an article describing the scale and depth of the global financial crisis that had not yet arrived.
Recent years
Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation
Financial manager of the foundation, approximately one billion shekels.
2007-present
Independent financial risk management consultant
Advising on risk management, FX and commodity hedging and investments, independently of any product, bank or asset manager. Regular panelist on The Economy Channel.
Contact
Start with an exposure review
An initial conversation covering your operations, cash flow and existing exposures. By the end of it you will know what you are exposed to and at what order of magnitude, before any engagement is discussed.
To get in touch, you can send a WhatsApp message or email directly: berger.finance@gmail.com
- Phone
- +972-54-458-1382
- Office
- 76/2 Hey Beiyar St., Kikar Hamedina, Tel Aviv
- Fax
- +972-77-2006719