1. Risk, Return, and CAPM
Professor Thomson
Fin 3013

2. Expected Returns Decisions must be based on expected returns
Methods used to estimate expected return
1. Historical approach
2. Probabilistic approach
3. Risk-based approach

3. 1. Historical Approach for Estimating Expected Returns
Assume that distribution of expected returns will be similar to historical distribution of returns.
Using annual returns, the average risk premium for U.S. stocks relative to Treasury bills is 7.6%. Treasury bills currently offer a 2% yield to maturity
Expected return on U.S. stocks: 7.6% + 2% = 9.6%
Can historical approach be used to estimate the expected return of an individual stock?

4. Historical Approach for Estimating Expected Returns
Assume General Motors long-run average return is 17.0%. Treasury bills average return over same period was 4.1%
GM historical risk premium: 17.0% - 4.1% = 12.9%
GM expected return = Current Tbill rate + GM historical risk premium = 2% % = 14.9%
Limitations of historical approach for individual stocks
May reflect GM’s past more than its future
Many stocks do not have a long history to forecast expected return

5. 2. Probabilistic Approach for Estimating Expected Returns
Identify all possible outcomes of returns and assign a probability to each possible outcome:
For example, assign probabilities for possible states of economy: boom, expansion, recession and project the returns of GM stock for the three states
55%
10%
Boom
15%
70%
Expansion
-30%
20%
Recession
GM Return
Probability
Outcome
GM Expected Return = 0.20(-30%) (15%) +0.10(55%) = 10%

6. 3. Risk-Based Approach for Estimating Expected Returns
1. Measure the risk of the asset
2. Use the risk measure to estimate the expected return as a function of the risk
1. Measure the risk of the asset
Systematic risks simultaneously affect many different assets
Investors can diversify away the unsystematic risk
Market rewards only the systematic risk: only systematic risk should be related to the expected return
How can we capture the systematic risk component of a stock’s volatility?

7. Portfolios
Definition: A portfolio is a collection of assets (which could be a single asset if you so choose)
This is the ONE CHOICE an investor has
You don’t choose which stocks are available to invest in (you do not choose whether Microsoft stock exists)
You don’t choose the how risky a stock is
You don’t choose the rate of return the stock offers

8. Portfolio Choice
How you choose your portfolio, however, does have consequences
If you put all your money into Treasury Bills, you will have no risk, and a low expected return
If you put all of your money into MCI you will have a high risk and high expected return

9. Portfolio Weight
Your portfolio choice is measured by its portfolio weight. This is the $ proportion that you invest in each asset
Let wi = portfolio weight

10. Portfolio Weight Example
You invest $100 in stocks, $80 in bonds, and $20 in Tbills. What are your portfolio weights? (Note the value of your portfolio is $200)
Wstocks = 100/200 = 50%
Wbonds = 80/200 = 40%
WTBills = 20/200 = 10%
Note: w1 + w2 + w wN = 1
i.e. Portfolio weights must sum to 1.

11. Expected Return on a Portfolio
The expected return on a portfolio is weighted return of the individual securities.
E(Rp) = w1E(R1)+w2E(R2)+w3E(R3) wNE(RN)
For the previous example, suppose the expected return on stock is 10%, the expected return on bonds is 5%, and the expected return on Tbills is3%, the the expected portfolio return is:
E(Rp) = 0.5*10% + 0.4*5% + 0.1*3%
= 5% + 2% + 0.3%
= 7.3%

12. Risk for a Portfolio But this is WRONG!! Why?  “Risk Canceling”
Given that the expected return for a portfolio is
E(Rp) = w1E(R1)+w2E(R2)+w3E(R3) wNE(RN)
By analogy one may think the risk, as measured by variance could be computed as:
Var(Rp) = w1Var(R1)+w2Var (R2)+w3Var (R3) wNVar (RN)
But this is WRONG!!
Why?  “Risk Canceling”

13. A Contrived Example
Asset YESPUR will pay $100 if the Spurs take the NBA championship next year, and zero otherwise
Asset NOSPUR pays $100 if the Spurs do not win the NBA championship and pays zero otherwise.
Both of the above assets are risky, as we do not know who will win the NBA this season

14. Example, Continued
Suppose you buy one share of YESPUR for $10, and one share of NOSPUR for $85. What will the return on your portfolio be?
Whether the Spurs win or lose, this investment will have a payoff of $100. The cost to buy this portfolio is $95.

15. Example - Summary
This example shows a case where one can combine two risky assets to create a risk free asset. In other words, it shows that judicious choice of risky assets can reduce overall portfolio risk
In most cases, one cannot eliminate all risk in a portfolio, but one can reduce risk through judicious choices of which securities to include in your portfolio

16. Two Source of Portfolio Risk
The overall state of the economy
When the economy is booming, most investments benefit (and vice versa)
This is the source of “systematic” or “non-diversifiable” or “market” risk
Firm Specific Risk
Examples are patents, consumer tastes, disasters, strikes
This is “unsytematic” or “diversifiable” or “non-market” risk

17. Measuring Systematic Risk
Most common measure is b (beta)
Beta measures the amount of systematic risk of an asset (or portfolio) relative to the average systematic risk
By definition, the systematic risk of the market = 1

18. b (beta)
b > 1 indicates more systematic risk than average (Page 301 shows Pfizer b = 1.67
b = 1 indicates average systematic risk (IBM shows b = 1.00)
b < 1 indicates lower than average risk (Sears b = 0.67)

19. Beta and Risk Premium
In words, stocks with low betas are less affected by changes in the economy than are firms with high betas
Therefore, beta determines the risk premium
Note: b = 0 for the risk free asset (I.e. there is no systematic risk)

20. Portfolio Beta
The beta of a portfolio is simply the weighted average of the betas of the individual securities
bp = x1b1 + x2b2 + x3b xNbN
Note this is similar in construction to the expected return on a portfolio
E(Rp)=x1E(R1) + x2E(R2) + x3E(R3) xNE(RN)

21. Example 7.1. Determining Portfolio Weights
What are the portfolio weights for a portfolio that has 80 shares of Stock A that sell for $42 per share and 40 shares of Stock B that sell for $68 per share?

22. Example 7.2. Portfolio Expected Return
You own a portfolio that has $500 invested in Stock A and $1,600 invested in Stock B. If the expected returns on these stocks are 12 percent and 18 percent, respectively, what is the expected return on the portfolio?

23. Example 7.3. Portfolio Beta
You own a portfolio with $2500 invested in Stock X, $1500 invested in Stock Y, and $1000 in Stock Z. The Beta of these three stocks are 1.8, 1.4, and 0.6, respectively. What is the portfolio beta?

24. Example 7.4. Targeting the return of your portfolio
Stock
E(Ri) bi A
18%
1.5 G
12%
0.9
You have $20000 to invest in a portfolio of Stock A and Stock G. You would like to earn a 14% rate of return. How much money will you invest in each stock? What will the Beta of your portfolio be?

25. Example 7.5. Targeting the risk of your portfolio
Stock
E(Ri) bi A
18%
1.5 G
12%
0.9
You have $20000 to invest in a portfolio of Stock A and Stock G. You feel that a Beta=1.2 would suit your risk tolerance. How much money will you invest in each stock? What return can you expect on this portfolio?

26. The statistical approach to estimate Beta
Collect data on a stock’s returns and returns on a market index
Plot the points on a scatter plot graph
Y–axis measures stock’s return
X-axis measures market’s return
Plot a line (using linear regression) through the points
Slope of line equals beta, the sensitivity of a stock’s returns relative to changes in overall market returns
Beta is a measure of systematic risk for a particular security.

27. Sharper Image weekly returns
Scatter Plot for Returns on Sharper Image and S&P 500
Sharper Image weekly returns
S&P 500 weekly returns

28. ConAgra weekly returns
Scatter Plot for Returns on ConAgra and S&P 500
ConAgra weekly returns
S&P 500 weekly returns

29. Deriving the CAPM Capital Asset Pricing Model
See handwritten notes.

30. Definition: Market Portfolio
The market portfolio is the portfolio of all assets, with their weights proportional to their value as a percent of the value of the entire portfolio
E(Rm) = the expected return on the market portfolio
The Beta of the market portfolio = 1
The equity risk premium (alternately called the market risk premium) is:
= E(Rm) - Rf

31. Security Market Line and CAPM
The security market line is a graph of the CAPM
E(Ri) = Rf + ßi [E(Rm) – Rf]
Return for bearing no market risk
Portfolio’s exposure to market risk
Reward for bearing market risk
The equation represents the risk and return relationship predicted by the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) for either individual stocks or portfolios of stocks

32. The Security Market Line
Plots relationship between expected return and betas
In equilibrium, all assets lie on this line.
If individual stock or portfolio lies above the line:
Expected return is too high.
Investors bid up price until expected return falls.
If individual stock or portfolio lies below SML:
Expected return is too low.
Investors sell stock driving down price until expected return rises.

33. The Security Market Line
E(RP)
SML •
A - Undervalued • A
Slope = E(Rm) - RF = Market Risk Premium RM • • • B RF •
B - Overvalued •
 =1.0 i

34. Much harder to create value through financial activities
Efficient Markets
Efficient market hypothesis (EMH): in an efficient market, prices rapidly incorporate all relevant information
Financial markets much larger, more competitive, more transparent, more homogeneous than product markets
Much harder to create value through financial activities
Changes in asset price respond only to new information. This implies that asset prices movements often seem random as news is random.

35. Why does this make sense?
If we could predict that the value of Google (now trading at about $400) is going to fall next year to $300.
What would you do in response to this information?
What would everyone else do in response to this information
What would the price of Google be tomorrow?

36. See Textbook Page 308 Three investment strategies
Does this mean there is no investment strategy that will work?
Random data means you can always find a system that would have worked on the past data as there will always be some apparent correlation between some random data streams
Example: The super bowl predictor

37. If asset prices unpredictable, then what is the use of CAPM?
Efficient Markets
If asset prices unpredictable, then what is the use of CAPM?
CAPM gives analyst a model to measure the systematic risk of any asset.
On average, assets with high systematic risk should earn higher returns than assets with low systematic risk.
CAPM offers a way to compare risk and return on investments alternatives.

38. So, how should you invest
If markets are efficient, all investment strategies should work equally well – that is - whatever your portfolio risk is, will ultimately determine your return
Hot stock tips are worthless
Fundamental Analysis (i.e. DDM’s are redundant
Know your risk tolerance and choose a well diversified portfolio that reflects your risk tolerance
Index funds are often a good choice to implement such a policy

39. Risk, Return, and CAPM
Decisions should be made based on expected returns.
Expected returns can be estimated using historical, probabilistic, or risk based approaches.
Portfolio expected return (and portfolio beta) is computed as the weighted average of the expected returns (or beta) of the assets in the portfolio.
CAPM predicts that the expected return on a stock depends on the stock’s beta, the risk-free rate (pure time value of money), and the risk of the stock which depends on the stock’s beta and the market risk premium.

41. Risk-Based Approach for Estimating Expected Returns
2. Use the risk measure to estimate the expected return:
Plot beta against expected return for two assets:
A risk-free asset that pays 4% with certainty, with zero systematic risk and
An “average stock”, with beta equal to 1, with an expected return of 10%.
Draw a straight line connecting the two points.
Investors holding a stock with beta of 0.5 or 1.5, for example, can find the expected return on the line.
Beta measures systematic risk and links the risk and expected return of an asset.

42. Risk and Expected Returns•
18% •
14%
ß = 1.5 • • •
10%
“average” stock • 4%
Risk-free asset • • • • • • • • • •
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8 1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8 2
Beta
What is the expected return for stock with beta = 1.5?

43. Portfolio Expected Returns
How does the expected return of a portfolio relate to the expected returns of the securities in the portfolio?
The portfolio expected return equals the weighted average of the portfolio assets’ expected returns
E(Rp) = w1E(R1)+ w2E(R2)+…+wnE(Rn)
w1, w2 , … , wn : portfolio weights
E(R1), E(R2), …, E(RN): expected returns of securities
Expected return of a portfolio with N securities

44. Portfolio Expected Returns
E(R)
$ Invested
Weights
IBM
10%
$2,500
0.125 GE
12%
$5,000
0.25
Sears 8%
Pfizer
14%
$10,000
0.5
E(Rp) = (0.125)(10%) + (0.25)(12%) + (0.125)(8%) + (0.5)(14%) = 12.25%
E(Rp) = w1E(R1)+ w2E(R2)+…+wnE(Rn)

45. Portfolio Risk
Portfolio risk is the weighted average of systematic risk (beta) of the portfolio constituent securities.
Portfolio
Beta
$ Invested
Weights
IBM
1.00
$2,500
0.125 GE
1.33
$5,000
0.25
Sears
0.67
Pfizer
1.67
$10,000
0.5
ß P = (0.125)(1.00) + (0.25)(1.33) + (0.125)(0.67) (0.50)(1.67) = 1.38
But portfolio volatility is not the same as the weighted average of all portfolio security volatilities

46. Portfolio composed of the following two assets:
Security Market Line
Portfolio composed of the following two assets:
An asset that pays a risk-free return Rf, , and
A market portfolio that contains some of every risky asset in the market.
Portfolio
E(R)
Beta
Risk-free asset Rf
Market portfolio
E(Rm) 1
Security market line: the line connecting the risk-free asset and the market portfolio