Equity hedging

In Equity hedging the investor is interested in minimizing his risk. For instance he purchases 1000 shares of 'XYZ' company to reduce his risk if the market falls the investor also purchases futures of 'XYZ' company .
Another method to hedge and reduce risk is beta neutral Beta is the historical correlation between a stock and an index. If the beta of a 'XYZ' company is 2, then for a 1000 long position in 'XYZ' company you will hedge with a 2000 equivalent short position in the futures.