Profit-taking to get harder

“The industry is rapidly shifting from people using foreign exchange to hedge risk, to using this market to make money,” said Dirk Morris, head of currency and Australasian business at Putnam Investments in Boston. “The average investment manager in FX currently makes money – that trend is about to change,” he said.

As FX is a zero-sum game, hedgers and central banks who enter the FX markets for reasons other than making money have historically presented good profit-taking opportunities for risk-takers. But with relatively fewer hedgers – for reasons such as changing accountancy regulations – and a global trend towards less central bank intervention, this may soon be a thing of the past, said panelists.