English

Alternative forms

• risk off

Noun

risk-off ‎(uncountable)

1. (finance) A mode of investment behavior in which investors shift high-risk investments to low-risk investments.
   • 2011, Brian Dolan, Currency Trading For Dummies, ISBN 1118110889, page 98:

     In a risk-on environment, they then sell those currencies and use the proceeds to buy risk assets with greater price appreciation potential. In a risk-off environment, they're compelled to sell their risk assets and buy back those funding currencies that they previously sold.

   • 2013, Dennis P. J. Botman, ‎Irineu E. Carvalho Filho, ‎& Mr. Raphael W. Lam, The Curious Case of the Yen as a Safe Haven Currency, ISBN 1475513283:

     The yen tends to appreciate in the aftermath – first two quarters – of risk-off episodes, whether the appreciation is measured as nominal, real effective, or bilateral against the U.S. dollar (Figure 6).

   • 2013, Reinout De Bock & Irineu E. Carvalho Filho, The Behavior of Currencies during Risk-off Episodes, ISBN 1475536100, page ii:

     It is also noteworthy that risk-off events have happened more often since 2007.

   • 2016 March 2, Nouriel Roubini, “Is the world economy having a 2008 moment?”, in The Guardian:

     My answer is a straightforward no, but that the recent episode of global financial market turmoil is likely to be more serious than any period of volatility and risk-off behaviour since 2009.

Antonyms

• risk-on