Multi-Currency Portfolio Exposure Calculator NZ 2026/27
Currency is the exposure New Zealand investors are least likely to have measured and most likely to have misjudged, because the single most intuitive assumption about it is wrong. Buying a fund priced in New Zealand dollars does not give you a New Zealand dollar asset. The unit price is quoted in one currency and the shares underneath it are denominated in another, and it is the second one that determines what happens to your money when the exchange rate moves. A New Zealand dollar priced global share fund moves with the United States dollar, the euro and the yen, in proportion to what it holds, exactly as though you had bought those shares directly. The only thing that changes this is hedging, which converts foreign exposure back to New Zealand dollars at a cost, and which most people either forget about entirely or assume applies when it does not. This page adds it all up. Enter what each fund holds by currency, taken from the geographic breakdown on its factsheet, along with how much of it is hedged, and it reports your gross exposure, how much the hedging removes, and the net position across the whole portfolio. It then tests a range of exchange rate movements against that net figure, using the reciprocal multiplier rather than a simple subtraction, because a ten percent rise in the New Zealand dollar does not cost you ten percent. Include KiwiSaver, which is usually the largest holding and the largest source of exposure nobody has counted.
Hedging converts foreign exposure back to New Zealand dollars: net foreign = gross foreign × (1 − hedge percentage), and the amount removed is added to the New Zealand dollar total.
Net foreign exposure is the total less the New Zealand dollar holding. This is the share of the portfolio that moves when the exchange rate moves.
Effect of a currency move uses the reciprocal: foreign assets are multiplied by 1 / (1 + move). A 10% rise in the New Zealand dollar gives 1 / 1.10 = 0.909091, a fall of 9.09%, not 10%. A 10% fall gives 1 / 0.90 = 1.111111, a rise of 11.11%.
The asymmetry is real, not an error. A fall in the New Zealand dollar helps slightly more than an equal rise hurts, because of that division.
Geographic breakdown is used as a proxy for currency, which holds for listed shares in most markets and is imperfect for multinationals earning revenue in currencies other than their listing currency, and for bonds issued in a currency other than the issuer's home one.
Excluded: the cost of hedging, which sits in the fund's fee; any change in hedge ratio during the year; and correlation between currency movements and market movements, which is real and generally works in a New Zealand investor's favour.
All figures are user-entered from published factsheets. No fund is named, ranked or recommended.
Not financial advice. Last verified: .
Your exposure by currency
| Currency | From A | From B | From C | Gross | After hedging | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar | $18,600.00 | $5,250.00 | $0.00 | $23,850.00 | $21,225.00 | 42.45% |
| Other foreign | $4,800.00 | $2,100.00 | $0.00 | $6,900.00 | $5,850.00 | 11.70% |
| Euro | $3,600.00 | $1,200.00 | $0.00 | $4,800.00 | $4,200.00 | 8.40% |
| Japanese yen | $1,800.00 | $450.00 | $0.00 | $2,250.00 | $2,025.00 | 4.05% |
| New Zealand dollar | $1,200.00 | $6,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $12,200.00 | $16,700.00 | 33.40% |
| Total | $30,000.00 | $15,000.00 | $5,000.00 | $50,000.00 | $50,000.00 | 100.00% |
| Foreign currency | $37,800.00 | $33,300.00 | 66.60% |
Hedging moves money from the foreign rows into the New Zealand dollar row. It does not change what the fund owns, only what happens to you when the rate moves.
What a currency move does to you
| If the NZ dollar | Foreign assets multiply by | Change in value | Effect on the portfolio | Portfolio becomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falls 15% | 1.176471 | $5,876.47 | 11.75% | $55,876.47 |
| Falls 10% | 1.111111 | $3,700.00 | 7.40% | $53,700.00 |
| Falls 5% | 1.052632 | $1,752.63 | 3.51% | $51,752.63 |
| Rises 5% | 0.952381 | -$1,585.71 | -3.17% | $48,414.29 |
| Rises 10% | 0.909091 | -$3,027.27 | -6.05% | $46,972.73 |
| Rises 15% | 0.869565 | -$4,343.48 | -8.69% | $45,656.52 |
The multiplier is a division, not a subtraction, so a 10% rise costs 9.09% rather than 10%. The gains are slightly larger than the equivalent losses for the same reason.
What hedging would change
| Hedging | Foreign exposure | As a share | Swing if NZD rises 10% | Swing if NZD falls 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None at all | $37,800.00 | 75.60% | -$3,436.36 | $4,200.00 |
| As you have it | $33,300.00 | 66.60% | -$3,027.27 | $3,700.00 |
| Fully hedged | $0.00 | 0.00% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Full hedging removes the swing in both directions, and costs something every year whether the currency moves or not. That cost sits inside the fund's fee rather than being charged to you separately.
The Unit Price Currency Is Not Your Currency
The most intuitive belief about this is the wrong one. A fund priced in New Zealand dollars that holds United States shares gives you United States dollar exposure, because what it owns is denominated in United States dollars.
The unit price is just the label on the wrapper. When the exchange rate moves, the value of the shares inside moves with it and the unit price follows.
The only thing that severs that link is hedging, and hedging has to be done deliberately by the fund and paid for.
Worked Example: $50,000 Across Three Funds
An unhedged global fund at $30,000.00, a half-hedged KiwiSaver balanced fund at $15,000.00, and a New Zealand share fund at $5,000.00.
Gross foreign exposure is $37,800.00, or 75.60%. The KiwiSaver hedging converts $4,500.00 of that back to New Zealand dollars.
Net foreign exposure is $33,300.00, or 66.60%, of which the United States dollar alone is $21,225.00, or 42.45%.
Someone holding a dedicated New Zealand fund might reasonably feel domestically weighted. Two thirds of their money moves with foreign exchange rates.
A 10% Move Is Not A 10% Change
Converting foreign value back to New Zealand dollars is a division, which makes the arithmetic asymmetric.
If the New Zealand dollar rises 10%, foreign assets are multiplied by 1 divided by 1.10, which is 0.909091. That is a fall of 9.09%, not 10%.
If it falls 10%, they are multiplied by 1 divided by 0.90, which is 1.111111, a rise of 11.11%.
On the worked example that is -$3,027.27 against +$3,700.00 for equal-sized moves in opposite directions. The asymmetry is real and works in your favour. Our currency hedged vs unhedged calculator takes this further, including what the currency contributed to a given year's return.
This Is Bigger Than A Year Of Returns
A 10% currency move costs or gains around 6 to 7 percent of this portfolio with the underlying markets completely flat.
That is comparable to a normal year's expected return from the shares themselves, arriving from a source most holders have never quantified and would not see on any statement.
Currencies move that far regularly. It is not a tail scenario, it is an ordinary couple of years.
High Foreign Exposure Is Not Automatically Bad
For a New Zealander there is a reasonable argument that it helps. The New Zealand dollar tends to weaken when global conditions deteriorate, which lifts the New Zealand dollar value of foreign assets at exactly the moment domestic conditions are worst and your job feels least secure.
That is a genuine offset and it is one reason many long-term investors leave international shares unhedged.
The case for hedging is stronger for bonds, where a currency swing can be several times the yield, and for money needed at a known date, where year to year variation matters more than the long run.
What this page argues is only that the figure should be known. A 66.60% position in foreign currency is a large position to hold by accident.
Check KiwiSaver First
It is usually the largest holding, it usually carries substantial international assets, and its hedging policy sits in documents most members have never opened.
A balanced fund can be half international with only part of that hedged, which is exactly the case modelled above. Leaving KiwiSaver out of this calculation understates the answer more than any other omission you could make.
Our fund overlap calculator shows the same portfolio by market and our home bias calculator deals with the opposite problem, which is holding too much of New Zealand rather than too little.
Related NZ Currency and Portfolio Calculators
- Currency Hedged vs Unhedged Calculator: what the currency contributed to a return.
- Home Bias Calculator: your NZ weight against the global benchmark.
- Fund Overlap Calculator: the same portfolio by market.
- US Share FX Cost Calculator: what converting currency costs.
- Total Cost Of Owning A US ETF Calculator: the full cost of holding offshore.
Related calculators
- NPV Calculator: Net Present Value of Investment Cash Flows.
- One Fund vs Multi-Fund Calculator NZ 2026/27: a single global fund against a self-assembled portfolio.
- Passive Income Target Calculator NZ: Capital You Need.
- Payback Period Calculator: Recover Your Investment.
How to work out your portfolio's currency exposure
- Ignore what currency you bought the fund in. A fund priced in New Zealand dollars that holds United States shares gives you United States dollar exposure. The unit price is denominated in one currency and the assets underneath it are denominated in another, and only the second one matters.
- Use the geographic breakdown as the guide. Every factsheet publishes where a fund's assets sit. That is a good proxy for currency, since shares listed in a market are usually denominated in that market's currency.
- Enter each fund's hedging percentage. This is the part people miss and it changes the answer completely. A fully hedged fund gives you no currency exposure at all; a fifty percent hedged fund gives you half. It is stated in the fund documents.
- Include KiwiSaver. It is usually the largest holding and it usually carries substantial foreign exposure, often partially hedged. Leaving it out understates the result more than any other omission.
- Read the net foreign exposure. That is the share of your money that moves when the exchange rate moves, regardless of what the underlying markets do. Most people put it far lower than it turns out to be.
- Test a currency move against it. The last table shows what a rise or fall in the New Zealand dollar does to the whole portfolio. It is frequently larger than a year of expected returns, which is what makes the figure worth knowing.