The basic reasoning underlying the global carry trade is relatively straightforward–traders or investors borrow in a low-yielding currency and effectively place the borrowed funds on deposit in a high-yielding one. Simply put, they seek to exploit interest rate differentials between one country and another.
On the face of it, this is a relatively uncomplicated and profitable business, and the strategy is widely used during periods of global financial and exchange rate stability. A simple example: if overnight lending rates are an annualized 13.75% in Iceland compared to 0.5% in Japan, investors will borrow Japanese yen to fund an Icelandic krona deposit, pocketing the 13.25% difference, if they are unhedged, and provided the exchange rate remains stable.
Profiting from this transaction depends on the exchange rate between the two currencies not moving consequentially in favor of the borrowed currency. In a nutshell, the key to a successful carry trade is an interest rate differential and the belief that you can borrow cheap and lend expensive, but it isn't always that easy.
The fact is that exchange rates between currencies do vary. This introduces a substantial element of risk into the carry trade. On the upside, of course, it can be an added bonus if the currency offering the higher interest rate appreciates against the lower-rate one. According to Erik Postnieks, chief executive of Wooster Asset Management LLC, the "forward rate bias"–the tendency for higher interest rate currencies to not only not depreciate against lower-yielding currencies in any systematic way, but actually to appreciate against lower rate currencies over the longer term–is a trend that has remained intact over the past 25 years, and one that seems entirely likely to persist.
