It’s a staggering figure and a dramatically effective way to illustrate the enormous impact that fluctuating currency markets have on the global business community.

Nobody is immune to market fluctuation – including small to medium-sized Alberta enterprises that service a cross-border customer base.

Many such businesses now realize they lack the expertise to navigate the choppy and often perilous waters of foreign exchange.

For help, they’re turning to the professionals – Jameson International, an all-Canadian team of specialists that helps corporate clients make the kind of foreign exchange decisions that can work wonders for their profit margins.

Alan Boyle, left, and Clinton Rebec, of Jameson International.

Founded in 1989, Jameson International is proud of a hands-on service model that enables its customers to plan ahead in the effort to reduce the inevitable risks of navigating the volatile foreign exchange market.

For example, a strengthening Canadian dollar and a weakening U.S. greenback has radically altered playing fields for home-grown importing and exporting businesses. Jameson International finds ways and means to moderate the negative impact on Canadian exporting companies. Conversely, it helps to remind locally-based importers not to take today’s exchange rates for granted.

“Successful companies are operated by successful entrepreneurs. But they’re so busy focusing on sales and production that the edge they can gain by taking advantage of foreign exchange is sometimes overlooked – until they convert their receipts or payables,” explained Alan Boyle, Jameson’s Managing Director, trading.

“Then they begin converting their international receipts to Canadian funds and realize that they’re worth a lot less than they thought.”

A Toronto-based firm with a busy branch office in Calgary’s Bow Valley Square, Jameson International serves a fascinating variety of Alberta companies, representing an almost limitless range of endeavour. These include oilfield service and supply outfits, travel agencies, trucking concerns, machinists and consulting engineers, as well as real estate brokers who specialize in the sale of resort properties to offshore clients.

Jameson traders guide their clients through a process known as The Managed Risk Approach (TM). During consultations, the client’s foreign exchange profile is determined. A customized plan to manage the FX risk is developed, and the appropriate risk management tools are used to build a hedged portfolio. After that, the Jameson trader monitors the success of the program, and reports the quantifiable savings back to the client.

Non-profit organizations, bringing aid and succor to global trouble spots, find Jameson’s full-service package a particularly attractive safety net.

Jameson International services range from the relatively straightforward to the complex. But each specialized service is specifically fine-tuned to save money for Jameson customers representing a dozen different fields.

“We like to act as a consultative partner to our customers. We see ourselves as risk-management advisors,” added Boyle, who cited another example of how such a partnership might work.

“We’ll say to a customer: ‘We know you’re going to get paid a receivable in U.S. funds next January. Why not let us monitor that for you? We’ll notify you when the technical and fundamental forces have aligned to create favourable dealing conditions.’”

Another example from the Boyle casebook: Many Jameson customers are consulting engineers, frequently asked to do business in remote lands. Frequently, too, they’re asked to accept payment in local currency.

“They come to us with a simple question, namely: ‘Is this going to be a good deal or a bad deal for me?’”

In response, Jameson experts analyse the terms of the proposed contract and assess the potential risk.

“Often, we discover that there is a risk factor,” said Boyle. “Often, there’s a relatively good chance that an unstable local currency could put the value of your compensation at risk.”

In such a case, Boyle doesn’t attempt to influence a client’s decision whether or not to accept the posting. He DOES make sure the client proceeds with eyes wide open.

Jameson International builds relationships, taking an in-depth interest in the specific needs and wishes of each individual client. Then the team is able to fulfill its own particular mission – to de-mystify the foreign exchange market and make it more accessible to a corporate clientele.

That means providing customers with competitive rates of exchange. Perhaps equally important, it means making absolutely sure that customers proceed with the benefit of the most reliable and up-to-the-minute information possible.

It’s a compelling story and there’s more to be told. For further information, access the company website: www.jamesonfx.com.

To learn more about the services officered by Jameson International – including spot trades, forward contracts, market monitoring, accounts payable, worldwide wire transfers and in-house courier service – contact Corporate Trader Clinton Rebec in the Calgary office at: 403.537.5617 or toll free at 1.866.837.5617. E-mail: clinton.rebec@jameson.on.ca