Woodford begins hedging euro exposure on QE concerns

Neil Woodford has introduced a currency hedge on his Woodford Equity Income fund for the first time in the belief the European Central Bank's QE programme may prompt further euro weakness.

Woodford (pictured) began hedging his euro exposure back to sterling last month, following on from the ECB's 22 January announcement of a €1.1trn quantitative easing programme. The euro has fallen more than 9% against sterling over the past three months as investors begin to price in the impact of stimulus in the eurozone, but Woodford said further falls may yet be on the cards. The manager currently has just one holding listed on a eurozone stock exchange - French pharmaceutical Sanofi, which accounts for 2% (£100m) of his portfolio - but has introduced the hedge to guard against pos...