How to hedge exchange rate?

[thoer]

There are a lot of variables involved in the payment process, and everyone might have access to different methods of transfers based on their main bank, credit union's policies, etc. I urge folks to explore different options.

My local credit union told me that they would be able to do a wire transfer into CAD to ETI. But when I actually tried to do it, they found out that they could not do it based on the instructions I got from ETI. EverBank, with those same instructions, have said, "no problem" and whenever I'm ready they will do the wire transfer for $30. EverBank says that they highly recommend wire payments rather than any form of bank drafts as they have sometimes seen those take very long times to process.

Kathy in ETI accounting in very helpful. She told me that she recommends wiring fund already as CAD to ETI's Canadian Bank. ETI uses a US bank for wire payments in US$, but ETI has no control over the exchange rate that US bank uses.

[thoer]

I can report that our wire transfer from EverBank went thru smoothly. Even with Monday being a Canadian bank holiday, the transfer I initiated Monday was all cleared and credited at ETI on Wednesday.

Over the past few months, I moved US$ from the EverBank interest paying money market into their linked WorldMarkets CAD account whenever I thought the rates were good. Based on our average CAD purchase price vs the rate at the time of our wire transfer, we saved nearly $500.

Thank you to those who's posts led me to explore this option!

[gbaglo]

BTW, Monday wasn't a bank holiday. It was "Family Day" in BC. It should have been named "Ski Industry" day as the resorts lobbied for second Monday.

[thoer]

The CAD dropped to less than $0.74 US$ exchange rate in the last few days, if any folks are still interested in capturing good exchange rates.

When folks complain here about any and all price increases from ETI, I hope that they remember that ETI buys a lot of US products and that these low CAD prices mean ETI has to pay that much more for those US products.

[Greg A]

I would imagine ETI is using US$$ from their US account with dollars they've never converted to buy US supplies. Wouldn't make sense to purchase the US parts with CA $$ if people mostly send you US $$ on their trailers.
That is a really good rate today and it usually goes the other way in late March thru May. I'd send my money or payments now.

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Greg A

I would imagine ETI is using US$$ from their US account with dollars they've never converted to buy US supplies. Wouldn't make sense to purchase the US parts with CA $$ if people mostly send you US $$ on their trailers.
That is a really good rate today and it usually goes the other way in late March thru May. I'd send my money or payments now.

Maybe. I don't know anything about Canadian business laws to know if that is allowable for a Canadian company?

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by Greg A

I'd send my money or payments now.

depending on when its due ...guessing US$ exchange rate gets even better by late June...

[NCBill]

Want to hedge currency? There are a lot of vehicles in the investment market, involving shorts and puts. Not for the novice, and not for me for sure. The "experts" play in this market every day, and for every expert that is right, there is another expert that is wrong.

If you are happy with the current exchange rate, myself, I would probably pay for the trailer up front. Realize if the Canadian dollar drops, manufacturers like Escape are likely to adjust their price up, due to the added expense of any parts and components from the USA.

If someone can predict the future, I would recommend going into the currency market and making serious money. Myself, I do not have the stomach for the risk.

[LatLongJohn]

Originally Posted by NCBill

Want to hedge currency? There are a lot of vehicles in the investment market, involving shorts and puts. Not for the novice, and not for me for sure. The "experts" play in this market every day, and for every expert that is right, there is another expert that is wrong.

If you are happy with the current exchange rate, myself, I would probably pay for the trailer up front. Realize if the Canadian dollar drops, manufacturers like Escape are likely to adjust their price up, due to the added expense of any parts and components from the USA.

If someone can predict the future, I would recommend going into the currency market and making serious money. Myself, I do not have the stomach for the risk.

Hi - You might check this and other forums that mention "EverBank". I got some great advice and opened up an account with them in their Canadian currency "World Market". I simply put in the amount that my Escape 5.0 will cost into my new EverBank account. This effectively locks in the exchange rate at the time you transfer your dollars from your EverBank checking (U.S. dollars) into your World Market account (Canadian Dollars). When your trailer's ready, you simply wire the money (already in Canadian Dollars) to ETI. Done. This accomplishes two things: You "lock in" the favorable exchange rate, but it allows you to control your money until such a time that your trailer is ready or you, for some unforeseen reason, need to cancel your order with ETI.
Hope this helps. I know other people have accomplished the same thing using other similar investment or banking institutions.
John

[NCBill]

Good move on Everbank. I don't like surprises. Does Escape hold their pricing regardless of possible currency fluctuations?

[LatLongJohn]

Originally Posted by NCBill

Good move on Everbank. I don't like surprises. Does Escape hold their pricing regardless of possible currency fluctuations?

Hi - My understanding is that the final price (given in Canadian Dollars) will stay as stated on the Build Sheet once it is signed. You may want to contact ETI just to be sure. Once your money is sitting in the EverBank World account (as Canadian Dollars), you just need to wire the amount agreed to on the Build Sheet to ETI when appropriate. Others with more experience may want to "chime in" here, since I'm a bit of a newbie myself.
John

[rjbny]

For those considering Everbank, here is something that they publish on their site that indicates that they charge roughly 1% on the rate that they negotiate.

"Exchange rates are not published on any centralized exchange. We attempt to get you a competitive rate by:

• combining your trade with the trades of our other clients to gain economies of scale, and
• working with large institutional providers.

We add a spread of 1% or less to whatever exchange rate we can get for you. We also generally discount
our spread if your U.S. dollar transaction equivalent being converted exceeds $100,000. "

see -https://www.everbank.com/~/media/_docs/marketing/everbank/eb_ForeignCurrencyTermSummary.pdf

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

Originally Posted by rjbny

For those considering Everbank, here is something that they publish on their site that indicates that they charge roughly 1% on the rate that they negotiate.

"Exchange rates are not published on any centralized exchange. We attempt to get you a competitive rate by:

• combining your trade with the trades of our other clients to gain economies of scale, and
• working with large institutional providers.

We add a spread of 1% or less to whatever exchange rate we can get for you. We also generally discount
our spread if your U.S. dollar transaction equivalent being converted exceeds $100,000. "

see -https://www.everbank.com/~/media/_docs/marketing/everbank/eb_ForeignCurrencyTermSummary.pdf

I noticed that also But i think all banks charge something to do the transfer. its funny its says 1% or less . for those that have done it whats the spread they been charging?

[thoer]

Originally Posted by NEWYORKHILLBILLY

I noticed that also But i think all banks charge something to do the transfer. its funny its says 1% or less . for those that have done it whats the spread they been charging?

Less than 1% for mine. I was very happy with the rates I got from them

[dinnyberry]

In May I purchased $CAD when the FOREX rate was 1.3647. Everbank purchased the funds at 1.36169. Keep in mind that the trade will happen a day or 2 after you initiate the transaction so the rate may change. Also Everbank charged me $30 USD to wire the funds to ETI.

[LJY]

Originally Posted by dinnyberry

In May I purchased $CAD when the FOREX rate was 1.3647. Everbank purchased the funds at 1.36169. Keep in mind that the trade will happen a day or 2 after you initiate the transaction so the rate may change. Also Everbank charged me $30 USD to wire the funds to ETI.

If you wanted to exchange on the same day, you need to call the by 7am Pacific or something like that.

Also, I've found their rates to be the best I can find without having to give them any other business. One owner on this thread got a better deal with JP Morgan, but I think that's because he has retirement/investments thru JP Morgan.. and that's probably thousands of dollars in fees a year.

NOTE: Everbank got bought by TIAA.. so you'll have to check to see if this foreign currency account is still available.

[thiggins]

I just signed up with Everbank, and it does look like they're still offering the foreign MM accounts, although I'm awaiting the account number for it.

[float5]

If anyone has recently opened a special account and actually compared it to Escape's bank's rates at the time of payment, and can say what they saved, some might be interested in that.

[StanLewis]

Originally Posted by LJY

One owner on this thread got a better deal with JP Morgan, but I think that's because he has retirement/investments thru JP Morgan.. and that's probably thousands of dollars in fees a year.

Morgan Stanley, actually, and the transaction was essentially "free". I put free in quotes because it's quite true that we pay a goodly amount of management fees to them. If you have an existing relationship with a broker you probably want to ask about it, but if not, another alternative will surely be best.

[ReagentGrade]

Originally Posted by StanLewis

Morgan Stanley, actually, and the transaction was essentially "free". I put free in quotes because it's quite true that we pay a goodly amount of management fees to them. If you have an existing relationship with a broker you probably want to ask about it, but if not, another alternative will surely be best.

My retirement funds are at UBS. My financial team was not experienced with currency exchanges. The exchange rate they were originally quoted by someone else at UBS were OK but not great. I told them so and my team looked into it further. They found that the way to get the best rate was with a commodities trade. They set me up with a commodities account. I transferred USD into that account, when I was ready to buy CAD, I called them up. They got one of their commodities traders on the other line, who gave the approximate rate I could expect. I told them to go ahead and they bought all the CAD I need to pay for my trailer. My rate was actually better than quoted and was a tiny bit better that the spot rate listed on XE. I was delighted! (But wished I had purchased 30 days earlier, before the rate went up.)