Capital Assets Flashcards
List the five basic components of the investment process
Investor Characteristics, Investment Vehicles, Strategy Development, Strategy Implementation and Strategy Monitoring
Investor Characteristics
Return requirements and risk tolerance along with any constraints
Investment Vehicles
Once characteristics have been established, opportunities can be explored
Strategy Development
The investor can start to optimize based on available investment opportunities
Strategy Implementation
Problems may arise due to transaction costs or not enough market liquidity
Strategy Monitoring
Investors must constantly monitor and revaluate their investment strategy as the market is ever changing
Why different investors adopt different investment strategies
Investors will adopt different strategies based on their risk and return preferences, a low risk investor may chose to invest in low risk assets such as treasury bonds where as those with higher risk tolerance may chase riskier assets in search of higher returns. Strategies will depend on the amount of cash flow that’s desired.
Why investors adopt different investment strategies
- Changing market conditions, 2. Investment goals change, 3. Risk Tolerance may change, 4. Portfolio Diversification, 5. Investment Experience
Divisibility in terms of physical and financial assets
Financial assets are usually highly divisible and will buy and sell at small denominations. Physical assets may vary, like real estate may be not be easily divisible but assets like gold can be sold at smaller units.
Marketability in financial and physical assets
Marketability refers to the ease an asset can be bought or sold. Financial assets have a generally high marketability as they can easily be bought and sold. Marketability will vary for physical assets, for example gold is highly marketable but real estate will depend on a range of factors.
Holding period in financial and physical assets
Holding period in terms of financial asset will depend on the type of investment, day trader may hold an investment for a matter of minutes but a long term investor may hold assets for years. Physical assets will also vary but in general have a longer holding period. Real estate may be longer where things like technology may be shorter.
Information availability in financial and physical assets
Financial assets will typically have more information since they are publicly traded and highly regulated. Physical assets will vary, assets such as gold or oil have a lot of information but assets such as real estate are limited.
‘The Ownership of the Firm is Residual in Nature’
Owners have a claim on the residual profits after all expenses have been payed. They are the last in line to receive payouts. This gives shareholders incentive to monitor the performance of the company.
Conversion ratio
= number of shares
Conversion price
= par value / conversion ratio
Conversion value
= value if the bond was converted in present time. number of shares x stock price
Interest Rate Risk
risk that investor may face due to changes in interest rate, determined by supply and demand for credit.
Equity Risk
potential loss due to fluctuations in the value of stocks/ equity investments, equity represents ownership of a company and is sensitive to the companies performance.
Default Risk
risk the borrower may not be able to pay back their debt obligations.
Commodity Risk
Prices in stock may change due to changes in commodity prices, such as oil, gas and metals. Will depend on the extent that a company relies on the commodities.
“Investing in mutual funds guarantees a profit”
No, investing in mutual funds does not guarantee profit. Mutual funds are subject to market risk and their returns are no guaranteed. The performance will depend on factors such as underlying securities, economic conditions, interest rates and global events. Although mutual funds are a popular investment due to potential high returns, compared to a savings account, they also come with risk. Proper risk assessment must be done before investing. Past performance is also not a guarantee that it will continue to be a high returning investment.
How to find the NPV.
( C / (1+r) ^ n - Initial Investment )
Future Value.
FV = PV x (1+r)^n
PMT formula (Automation)
PMT = PV x r / (1-(1+r)) ^-n
Is the rate of return the most important metric?
Where it is important it is not the most important. Different investors will favor different metrics depending on the investing goals. An investor might priorities capital preservation rather than profit maximization, which would indicate they would prefer risk measures to minimize risk.
Do investments need to be perfectly correlated?
The goal of diversification is to spread investments across different assets in order to minimize overall risk. The degree of correlation is to be considered. If securities have a low or negative correlation, risk may be reduced as assets will move in different directions. Diversification does not need to be negative in order to provide benefit. Correlation may be a bad thing since assets may start to mirror each other.
How do Sharpe Jensen and Treynor performance index differ
The Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess return per unit of risk, where risk is measured as the standard deviation of returns. It evaluates the performance of an investment relative to its risk level, and a higher Sharpe ratio indicates better risk-adjusted performance.
The Treynor ratio is similar to the Sharpe ratio but uses systematic risk (beta) instead of total risk. It measures the excess return per unit of systematic risk, where systematic risk is the risk of the investment that cannot be diversified away in a portfolio. A higher Treynor ratio indicates better risk-adjusted performance, given the level of systematic risk.
The Jensen performance index measures actual performance compared to expected performance. A positive jensen indicates the asset has performed better than expected, a negative jensen indicates it has under performed.
The Sharpe Performance Index
(Return-RFR)/STD, Sharpe index measures the return in relation to the risk free rate divided by the STD. The higher the Sharpe Ratio the better the risk adjusted performance.
The Treynor Performance Index
(Return-RFR)/Beta, Treynor Index measures the return in relation to beta. The main difference between the Treynor and Sharpe performance index is that Treynor measures for for systematic risk where the Sharpe ratio measures both systematic and unsystematic risk
The Jensen Performance Index
(Return-(RFR+(Return on Market-rfr)(Beta). The Jensen Performance Index measures the excess returns compared to expected returns. A positive Jensen indicates the portfolio has outperformed the market. Its main difference is that its comparing performance relative to returns rather than by systematic and unsystematic risk.
The Efficient Frontier
The efficient frontier represents a set of portfolios that offer the highest expected returns. The efficient frontier plots the expected returns against the risk measured by the STD. Risk and return can be optimized by combining different assets that are not perfectly correlated.
Can the mean-variance criterion identify the optimal investment
Mean variance is used to maximize return and minimize risk. Where it is use the optimal criterion depends on investment preferences. The MVC assumes that investors are risk averse and seeking to maximize profit which might not always be the case. Investors may be risk seeking or risk neutral.
beta
correlation(std/1)
Expected return in portfolio
weighted average of expected return
Variance in portfolio
Sum of weighted variance of assets plus twice the sum of weighted co variance between each pair of assets
Can individual risk be diversified away
Risk of an individual asset can be diversified away by combining them in a portfolio with other assets with differing risk.
Can co-variance be diversified away
Not completely, covariance refers to how assets move together, even well diversified portfolios can have a high co-variance.
Explain separation theorem of the CAPM
CAPM suggests investors can separate their investment decisions into two components, risk free and risky assets. Optimal portfolio can be found with a mix of both assets determined on risk preferences.