Markets Magazine

Here’s an FX Strategy That May Offer Refuge From Negative Rates

This leveraged Indian rupee risk-reversal has outperformed a plain forward carry trade over the past four years

Searching for yield? Think about sending your money to Mumbai.

Investors in Europe and Japan seeking to escape negative interest rates may be able to get attractive carry-trade returns by parking funds in a number of emerging-market currencies. A carry trade typically involves borrowing money in a low-yielding currency and investing the funds in a higher-yielding one. Doing so can earn the difference between the two interest rates. The risk: Adverse FX moves—the currency you invest in depreciating against the one you borrowed in—can quickly wipe out gains, or worse.