These are quotes from the study “Overcoming the Notion of a Single Reference Currency: A Currency Basket Approach” written by our CEO Helie d’Hautefort and our advisor Giuseppe Ballocchi; published by the CFA Institute Research Foundation

It is almost always impossible to define a single meaningful reference currency, because liabilities and objectives cannot be quantified as a precise cash flow in any given currency. Such liabilities and objectives may be contingent on future decisions that are influenced by the world’s economic and geopolitical evolution.

If, for example, we decided to use our home country’s currency as the reference, and this reference currency crashes; the crash will leave us considerably “poorer” in GLOBAL terms. This is not a satisfactory or even acceptable outcome, and yet it follows from the literal application of the single-reference-currency concept.

In Einstein’s words, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” The choice of a single reference currency makes the subject of currency risk simpler than reality, sweeping real financial risk under the rug, with possible severe, adverse long-term consequences for financial health.

The effects of globalization are clearly visible in today’s economic environment, in which prices — for commodities, houses in international cities (financial centers in particular), international investments, and the energy consumed by families and businesses — are heavily dependent on the movements of world currencies and the development of global economies relative to a given local economy.