Evolution of Portfolio Theory Efficient Frontier to SML (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
Evolution of Portfolio Theory In theory, we could form a portfolio made up of all investable assets, however, this is not practical and we must find a way of filtering the investable universe. A risk-averse investor wants to find the…
Timelines – Your Best Friends (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
What is a timeline? A timeline is an physical illustration of the amount and the timing of cash flows associated with an investment project. Some of the applications of a timeline include: Quantitative Methods: Time Value of Money Capital Budgeting…
Portfolio Return and Variance (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
Portfolio Expected Return Portfolio expected return is the sum of each of the individual asset’s expected return multiplied by its associated weight. Thus: $${E(R_p)}=\sum{w_ir_i}$$ Where: \(i\) = 1, 2, 3, …, n; \(w_i\) = the weight attached to asset i;…
Beta and CAPM
Beta Beta is a measure of systematic risk, which refers to the risk inherent to the entire financial market. This is the risk that you cannot get rid of by diversifying across different securities. A common misconception is that Beta…
Demystifying Forward Rate Agreements (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
A forward rate agreement (FRA) is a cash-settled over-the-counter (OTC) contract between two counterparties, where the buyer is borrowing (and the seller is lending) a notional sum at a fixed interest rate (the FRA rate) and for a specified period starting at…
FRM Exam Preparation
The world is currently in a dark place with the ongoing rise in coronavirus cases. The adverse effects brought about by the pandemic are despicable. People and industries alike have been affected. There is an imminent risk of companies going…
Best Tips and Tricks for Preparing and Successfully Passing FRM Exams
Passing your Financial Risk Management (FRM) exam on the first try isn’t impossible – it is however quite difficult. FRM exams are detailed and involve complex calculations and thinking from each exam candidate. A financial risk manager is expected to…
Options Payoffs and Profits (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
The buyer of an option has the right but not the obligation to exercise the option. The maximum loss to the buyer is equal to the premium paid for the option. The potential gains are theoretically infinite. To the seller (writer), however, the maximum gain is limited…
Bond Valuation (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
Bond valuation is an application of discounted cash flow analysis. The general approach to bond valuation is to utilize a series of spot rates to reflect the timing of future cash flows. Value, Price, and TVM Value can be described as…
Covariance and Correlation (Calculations for CFA® and FRM® Exams)
Covariance The covariance is a measure of the degree of co-movement between two random variables. For instance, we could be interested in the degree of co-movement between the rate of interest and the rate of inflation. X = interest rate…
