Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• POSITIONING
  
  The act of holding a financial instrument, one or more portfolios of financial instruments, or one’s entire balance sheet in a way that exposes the holder to profits or losses from future changes in market prices. Positions may be taken with the intent to profit from expected future market changes (trading activities); may result from inventories of financial assets maintained for sale to customers (dealing activities); or may be the result of the net exposure from transactions (residual positions resulting from trading activities, dealing activities, or customer accommodations). Banks take positions in one of two ways: 1. In their trading accounts, banks (mainly large banks) may take positions with one or more financial instruments in the expectation of profiting from future rate changes. 2. More typically, banks hold or take balance sheet positions. The cumulative interest rate risk exposure from customer deposits, loans, and other activities creates a net residual position that the bank may or may not hedge. Choosing not to hedge is positioning. Alternatively, banks may create a position or add to a residual position in the expectation of profiting from them.
  
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