If you were to ask most individual investors or financial advisors their take on the outlook for the Indian rupee or Swedish krona, most would probably respond with a blank stare. But most of those same investors probably maintain some degree of currency exposure in their portfolios, especially if any of the $190 billion in international equity ETFs belongs to them. Returns on the vast majority of international equity ETFs depend not only on the performance of the securities in their local market, but on the changes in the value of the local currency relative to an investor’s home currency. The currency component of total returns is generally relatively minor compared to the equity component, but can certainly have a material impact on a security’s bottom line return. The scenario that has played out in Europe in the first half of 2010 serves as an excellent example. U.S. investors have watched [...] Click here to read the original article on ETFdb.com. Related Stories: WisdomTree Launches First Currency Hedged ETF (HEDJ) WisdomTree To Hedge Yen Exposure In Japan Total Dividend Fund (DXJ) UBS Launches S&P 500 Gold Hedged ETN (SPGH)