{"id":1929,"date":"2019-06-15T17:35:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T17:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analystprep.com\/cfa-level-1-exam\/?p=1929"},"modified":"2026-09-22T16:54:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:54:55","slug":"risk-return-equity-securities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analystprep.com\/cfa-level-1-exam\/equity\/risk-return-equity-securities\/","title":{"rendered":"Risk and Return of Equity Securities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"VideoObject\",\n  \"name\": \"Overview of Equity Securities (2025 Level I CFA\u00ae Exam \u2013 Equity \u2013 Module 4)\",\n  \"description\": \"This video lesson covers equity investments for CFA Level 1, focusing on key topics such as the characteristics of different equity securities, voting rights, and ownership structures. It also explores public vs. private equity, non-domestic investments, risk and return profiles, and the role of equity in financing company assets. The lesson concludes by comparing market and book values of equity, along with a company\u2019s cost of equity, return on equity, and investors\u2019 required returns.\",\n  \"uploadDate\": \"2022-05-11T00:00:00+00:00\",\n  \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/dzzqUd0SqtQ\/maxresdefault.jpg\",\n  \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dzzqUd0SqtQ\",\n  \"embedUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dzzqUd0SqtQ\",\n  \"duration\": \"PT36M43S\"\n}\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dzzqUd0SqtQ?si=vRTpUj8owcJRhxbw\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"QAPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": {\n    \"@type\": \"Question\",\n    \"name\": \"A US investor makes a direct investment in a foreign equity security with a current dividend yield of 2.5%. If the investor holds the stock for ten years, how many components are likely to make up the investor\u2019s total return?\",\n    \"text\": \"Options:\\n1. One\\n2. Two\\n3. Three\",\n    \"answerCount\": 1,\n    \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n      \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n      \"text\": \"The correct answer is C. A US investor\u2019s total return from a foreign equity investment generally consists of three components: dividend income, capital appreciation, and currency fluctuations. Dividend income comes from payments made by the company to shareholders. Capital appreciation reflects changes in the stock\u2019s price over the holding period. Currency fluctuations affect returns because the investor\u2019s return must be converted from the foreign currency into US dollars. Option A is incorrect because it ignores additional sources of return beyond dividends. Option B is incorrect because it does not account for the impact of currency movements on foreign investments.\"\n    }\n  }\n}\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The type of security and its features affect its risk\/return profile. Therefore, as an investor\u2019s risk increases, its expected return should also increase to compensate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Equity Return Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are two main sources of total return for equity securities \u2013 capital appreciation and dividend income:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">$$ \\text{Total Return} = \\frac{P_1 &#8211; P_0 + D}{P_0}&nbsp;$$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">P<sub>1<\/sub> = Sale price (or price at t = 1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">P<sub>0<\/sub> = Purchase price (or price at t = 0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">D&nbsp;= Dividend income paid to the investor between t = 0 and t = 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Exam tip<\/strong>: Most of the return calculations in finance follow the same logic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">$$ \\text{Return (%)} = \\frac{ \\text{Ending price} &#8211; \\text{Beginning price} + \\text{Dividend income}}{ \\text{Beginning price}} $$<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"margin:28px 0;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/analystprep.com\/free-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"display:block;width:100%;padding:12px 24px;border-radius:999px;background:#1a73e8;color:#ffffff;font-size:15px;font-weight:500;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;box-sizing:border-box;\">\n    Practice Risk and Return Questions with Our Free Trial.\n  <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Reinvestment of Dividends<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historically, the reinvestment of dividend income has been an extremely important source of compound growth. Of course, the total return of non-dividend paying stocks is entirely based upon capital appreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Direct investments in foreign securities or depository receipts have an additional source of return: foreign exchange gains (or losses) arising from changes in exchange rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Equity Risk Characteristics<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In general, investors expect lower risks and returns from preference shares than common shares because dividends on preference shares are fixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preference shareholders also have priority to dividend payments, and liquidation proceeds claimed by preference shares are known (although not guaranteed).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Preference shareholders usually expect more of their total return from dividend income, while common shareholders typically expect more return from capital appreciation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Callable common or preference shares are riskier than their non-callable counterparts, while putable common or preference shares are less risky than their non-putable counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Question<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A US investor makes a direct investment in a foreign equity security with a current dividend yield of 2.5%. If the investor holds the stock for ten years, how many components are likely to make up the investor\u2019s total return?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Two<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Three<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Solution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The correct answer is <strong>C<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The total return from investing in a foreign equity security generally includes three components:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dividend Income<\/strong>: The yield on dividends paid by the equity, which is 2.5% in this case.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Capital Appreciation<\/strong>: The change in the stock&#8217;s price over the holding period. This could be positive or negative, depending on how the stock performs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Currency Fluctuations<\/strong>: Since the investment is in a foreign equity, changes in the exchange rate between the investor\u2019s home currency (USD) and the currency of the foreign stock can affect the total return.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus, the total return from holding a foreign equity security would likely be influenced by these three components: dividend income, capital appreciation, and currency fluctuations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"text-align:center;margin:35px 0;\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/analystprep.com\/free-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"display:inline-block;padding:15px 35px;border-radius:999px;background:#1a73e8;color:#ffffff;font-size:17px;font-weight:600;text-decoration:none;\">\n    Start Free Trial \u2192\n  <\/a>\n\n  <p style=\"margin:25px 0 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;text-align:center;\">\n    Master CFA Level I Equity concepts, including risk, return, equity securities, valuation, and investment performance with study notes, practice questions, and video lessons.\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The type of security and its features affect its risk\/return profile. Therefore, as an investor\u2019s risk increases, its expected return should also increase to compensate. Equity Return Characteristics There are two main sources of total return for equity securities \u2013&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-equity","blog-post","no-post-thumbnail","animate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Risk and Return of Equity Securities | CFA Level 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the risk and return characteristics of equity securities, including key factors affecting total return and investor expectations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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