Currency & Political Risk

Risks of investing across borders: exchange-rate moves can erase local-currency gains (currency risk), and unstable governments, expropriation, or capital controls threaten the investment itself (political/country risk).

Currency risk cuts both ways — a falling dollar boosts returns on unhedged foreign assets. Sovereign actions like sudden tax changes, sanctions, or nationalization are political risks that diversification across countries, not companies, addresses.

Related terms

Back to Understanding Products and Their Risks