NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Precidian Investments

launched hedged ADRs on Monday that U.S. investors can use to

buy foreign-listed stocks while limiting the impact of

fluctuating currencies.

Precidian, an exchange-traded fund developer, said it will

list the hedged American Depositary Receipts on Cboe's U.S.

equities exchange.

Investors buying shares of companies overseas, including

ADRs, are exposed to fluctuating exchange rates between the

dollar and the foreign currency. But by coupling the ADRs with a

currency overlay into one security, investors can mitigate

currency exposure, said Cboe.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will be the

counterparty providing the currency hedge.

"This really is the next generation ADR for U.S. investors,"

Rob Marrocco, global head of ETP listings at Cboe, told Reuters.

The product will be called ADRhedged.

Cboe's U.S. equities exchange will initially list

AstraZeneca ADRhedged, HSBC Holdings ADRhedged

and Shell ADRhedged and anticipates adding another 14

soon after.

Stuart Thomas, founding principal at Precidian, told Reuters

that the more than $1 trillion ADR market has needed a hedged

alternative for decades.

ADRhedged comes as the greenback's appreciation against most

global currencies over the past decade has caused ADR

investments to underperform in dollar terms, said Cboe.

"People have been buying them for years, but the average

investor has not had access to a currency hedge overlay for

international investing," said Thomas. "Now you've got another

set of tools at your disposal."