Portfolio Management COPY Flashcards
Portfolio Perspective
Evaluating individual investments by their contribution to the risk and return of an investor’s portfolio (diversification)
Modern Portfolio Theory
Equilibrium expected returns for securities and portfolios that are a linear function of each security’s or portfolio’s market risk
Diversification Ratio
Ratio of the risk of an equally weighted portfolio of n securities (standard deviation of returns) to the risk of a single security selected at random from the n securities
Endowment
Fund that is dedicated to providing financial support on an ongoing basis for a specific purpose
Foundation
Fund established for charitable purposes to support specific types of activities or research (long horizon, high risk tolerance, little need for liquidity)
Banks
Earn more on the bank’s loans and investments than the bank pays for deposits (low risk, adequate liquidity)
Insurance Companies
Invest customer premiums with the objective of funding customer claims as the occur (life insurance long horizon, P&C shorter)
Investment Companies
Manage the pooled funds of many investors
Mutual Funds
Manage pooled funds in particular styles (index, growth, bond, etc.) and restrict their investments to particular subcategories of investments or regions
Sovereign Wealth Funds
Pools of assets owned by a government
Defined Contribution Pension Plan
Retirement plan in which the firm contributes a sum each period to the employee’s retirement account (based on factors such as years of service, age, compensation, etc.). Investment decisions left to employee
Defined Benefit Pension Plan
Firm promises to make periodic payments to employees after retirement (based on years of service and employee’s compensation at or near retirement). Employer assumes investment risk
Planning Step
Analysis of investor’s risk tolerance, return objectives, time horizon, tax exposure, liquidity needs, income needs
Investment Policy Statement
Details investor’s investment objectives and constraints. Specify objective benchmark. Update every few years, or when investor’s objectives change significantly
Execution Step
Analysis of the risk and return characteristics of various asset classes to determine how funds will be allocated to the various asset types
Top Down Analysis
Examine current economic conditions and forecasts (GDP growth, inflation, interest rates)
Bottom Up Security Analysis
Identify individual names within an industry that appear undervalued
Feedback Step
Over time, investor circumstances change, as will asset class performance (actual weights of assets in the portfolio will change with asset prices). Measure portfolio performance and evaluate to benchmark and IPS
Rebalance
Adjust allocations of various asset classes over time back to their desired percentages
Pooled Investments
Single portfolio that contains investment funds from multiple investors
Mutual Funds
Each investor owns shares representing ownership of a portion of the overall portfolio (NAV of assets/shares issued is NAV of each share). Charge a fee for management
Open End Fund
Investors can buy newly issued shares at the NAV. Newly invested cash is invested by mutual fund managers. Sold at NAV once a day (closing asset price)
Redeem
Investors can sell back shares to fund at the NAV
No Load Funds
Do not charge additional fees for purchasing shares (up front fees) or redeeming shares (redemption fees)
Load Funds
Charge either up front, redemption fees or both
Closed End Funds
Professionally managed pools of investor money that do not take new investments into the fund or redeem investor shares. Shares trade like equity shares. Management fees. Can reinvest dividends in additional shares
Money Market Funds
Invest in short term debt securities and provide interest income with very low risk (NAV set to one currency unit)
Bond Mutual Funds
Invest in fixed income securities. Differentiated by maturities, credit ratings, issuers, types
Index Funds
Passively managed. Constructed to match the performance of a particular index
Actively Managed
Management selects individual securities with the goal of producing returns greater than those of their benchmark indexes (higher management fees). Higher turnover of portfolio securities
Exchange Traded Funds
Purchases and sales are made in the market, usually passively managed, keep market prices very close to NAV. Can be sold short, purchased on margin, traded at intraday prices. Less cap gains liability
Separately Managed Account
Portfolio owned by a single investor and managed according to that investor’s needs and preferences. Single investor owns entire account
Hedge Fund
Pools of investor funds that are not regulated to the extent that mutual funds are. Limited to the number of investors who can invest in the fund (high minimum investment, qualified investors only)
Long/Short Fund
Buy securities that are expected to outperform the overall market and sell securities short that are expected to underperform overall market
Equity Market Neutral Funds
Long/short funds with long stock positions that are just offset in value by stocks sold short (profitable in both up and down markets as long as longs outperform shorts)
Bias
Long/short fund dedicated to a larger long position relative to short sales, or greater short position relative to long positions
Event Driven Funds
Invest in response to one time corporate events (mergers and acquisitions)
Fixed Income Arbitrage Funds
Take long and short positions in debt securities, attempt to profit on minor mispricings while minimizing effects of interest rate changes
Convertible Bond Arbitrage Funds
Take long and short positions in convertible bonds and equity shares they can be converted into in order to profit on relative mispricing between the two
Global Macro Fund
Speculate on changes in international interest rates and currency exchange rates, using derivatives and leverage
Buyout Funds (Private Equity)
Buy entire public companies and take them private. Funded with significant increase in firm’s debt (leveraged buyout). Fund reorganizes firm to increase cash flow, pay down debt, increase equity value, then sell firm or parts in public offering or to another company (3-5 years)
Venture Capital Funds
Invest in companies in their start up phase, with intent to grow them into valuable companies that can be sold publicly via an IPO or sold to an established firm
Holding Period Return
Percentage increase in the value of an investment over a given time period
Arithmetic Mean Return
Simple average of a series of periodic returns
Geometric Mean Return
Compound annual rate. Less than arithmetic mean when rates of return vary each period
Money Weighted Return
Internal rate of return on a portfolio based on all of its cash inflows and outflows (dividends and interest are outflows –> negative), beginning value and deposits are inflows)
Gross Return
Total return on a security portfolio before deducting fees (commissions are deducted)
Net Return
Return after fees have been deducted
Pretax Nominal Return
Return prior to paying taxes
After Tax Nominal Return
Return after tax liability is deducted
Real Return
Nominal return adjusted for inflation. Measures the increase in an investor’s purchasing power
Leveraged Return
Return to an investor that is a multiple of the return on the underlying asset (gain or loss on the asset as a percentage of an investor’s cash investment)
Covariance
Extent to which two variables move together over time (positive move together, negative move in opposite directions)
Correlation
Standardized measure of co-movement (covariance divided by products of standard deviations)
Correlation Coefficient
Pure measure of co-movement of two stocks’ returns bounded by -1 and +1