Congratulations to Medtronic for winning the Silver Alexander Hamilton Award in Risk Management!

Minneapolis-based medical device manufacturer Medtronic has a straightforward, six-word mission: Alleviate pain, restore health, extend life.

That mission has served the company well. From its formation as the inventor and producer of the world’s first implantable pacemaker in the 1950s, Medtronic now makes devices that treat 70 different conditions, has sales in more than 150 countries, and does business in 60 currencies. However, as it grew into a global organization, its foreign exchange (FX) risk management processes began causing pain, not alleviating it.

Medtronic hedges balance sheet exposures in about 30 currencies. “We hedge to offset the risk to the balance sheet when one of our legal entities has a balance—monetary assets less liabilities—in a currency other than their functional currency,” explains Tim Husnik, senior treasury director. “For example, if a legal entity in Europe has balances in Swiss francs, we consider that to be a balance sheet exposure. If the balance in a given currency is significant, we consider hedging with derivatives. Overall, the program is about $5 billion in size.”

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Critical Treasury & Risk information including in-depth analysis of treasury and finance best practices, case studies with corporate innovators, informative newsletters, educational webcasts and videos, and resources from industry leaders.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and Treasury & Risk events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including PropertyCasualty360.com and Law.com.

Already have an account?


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2023 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Meg Waters

Meg Waters is the editor in chief of Treasury & Risk. She is the former editor in chief of BPM Magazine and the former managing editor of Business Finance.

More from this author

 

Treasury & Risk

Join Treasury & Risk

Don’t miss crucial treasury and finance news along with in-depth analysis and insights you need to make informed treasury decisions. Join Treasury & Risk now!

  • Free unlimited access to Treasury & Risk including case studies with corporate innovators, informative newsletters, educational webcasts, and resources from industry leaders.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and Treasury & Risk events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM publications including PropertyCasualty360.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join Treasury & Risk

Copyright © 2023 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.