Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
There has not been a material change in our exposure to foreign currency exchange and interest rate risks from that described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Interest Rate Risk. Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our investment portfolio. We consider cash invested in highly liquid financial instruments with a remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Investments in highly liquid financial instruments with maturities greater than three months at the date of purchase are classified as short-term investments. We generally hold securities until maturity; however, they may be sold under certain circumstances, including, but not limited to, when necessary for the funding of acquisitions and other strategic investments, and therefore we classify our investment portfolio as available-for-sale. We invest in high-credit quality issuers and, by policy, limit the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. As stated in our policy, we seek to ensure the safety and preservation of our invested principal funds by limiting default risk, market risk and reinvestment risk. We mitigate default risk by investing in safe and high-credit quality securities and by constantly positioning our portfolio to respond appropriately to a significant reduction in a credit rating of any investment issuer, guarantor or depository. Our portfolio includes only marketable securities with active secondary or resale markets to facilitate portfolio liquidity. At March 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, we held primarily cash equivalents and short-term investments with fixed interest rates.
Our investment securities are subject to market interest rate risk and will vary in value as market interest rates fluctuate. We monitor our investments per our above-mentioned investment policy; therefore, if market interest rates were to increase or decrease by 10% from interest rates as of March 31, 2021, or December 31, 2020, the increase or decrease in the fair market value of our portfolio on these dates would not have been material. We monitor our investments for impairment on a periodic basis. Refer to Note 5, Marketable Securities , in our Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, for a tabular presentation of our available-for-sale investments and the expected maturity dates.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk. As of March 31, 2021, our primary transactional currency was U.S. dollars; in addition, we hold cash in Swiss francs and euro. We maintain cash denominated in Swiss francs and euro to fund the operations of our Swiss subsidiary. The foreign exchange rate fluctuation between the U.S. dollar versus the Swiss franc and euro is recorded in other income in our condensed consolidated statements of income.
We have sales offices in various other foreign countries in which our expenses are denominated in the local currency, primary Asia and Western Europe. Cash balances held in foreign countries are subject to local banking laws and may bear higher or lower risk than cash deposited in the United States. From time to time we may enter into foreign currency hedging contracts to hedge certain foreign currency transactions. As of March 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020, we did not have an open foreign currency hedge program utilizing foreign currency forward exchange contracts.
Two of our major suppliers, Epson and Lapis, have wafer supply agreements based in U.S. dollars; however, our agreements with Epson and Lapis also allow for mutual sharing of the impact of the exchange rate fluctuation between Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar on future purchases. Each year, our management and these two suppliers review and negotiate future pricing; the negotiated pricing is denominated in U.S. dollars but is subject to contractual exchange rate provisions. The fluctuation in the exchange rate is shared equally between us and each of these suppliers on future purchases. Nevertheless, as a result of these supplier agreements, our gross margin is influenced by fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. All else being equal, a 10% change in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to the Japanese yen would result in a corresponding change in our gross margin of approximately 1.0%; this sensitivity may increase or decrease depending on the percentage of our wafer supply that we purchase from some of our Japanese suppliers and could subject our gross profit and operating results to the potential for material fluctuations.
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