Securities and Investments

SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS

OBJECTIVE

Demonstrate the ability to perform investments calculations and analysis related to the concepts covered in this course.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this graded project is to give you the opportunity to use the skills you've learned throughout this course in a series of real-world applications. The three parts of this project require you to analyze portfolios containing a number of securities using a variety of analysis tools. The skills you'll demonstrate in this graded project are essential to becoming a successful financial manager.

Record your answers in a Word document with the question numbers clearly labeled.

Show your calculations or calculator inputs when indicated for full credit. Perform all work using equations and a calculator. Do not submit or use an Excel spreadsheet to calculate your answers.

Part 1: Sector Performance

Investment managers strive to outperform both the sector they focus on and broad market indexes such as the S&P 500. The performance of a portfolio is determined by both the weightings given to different types of investments as well as the actual performance of these investments. In addition, the level of risk an investor is willing to take on will impact the design of a portfolio.

To answer the questions in Part 1, you'll use the information provided about the portfolio in the table below. The portfolio is broken out by sectors and shows the investor's portfolio's weighting and performance and the S&P 500's weighting and performance in each sector. The final column shows the individual investments' overall contributions to the portfolio. Note that an investment can underperform the S&P and still have a positive contribution to the portfolio based on the difference in weighting.

1. Fill in the missing values in the table above for a quarterly comparison of sectors with the S&P 500 Index. Remember when performing calculations that the numbers shown are percentage values. Record your answers as percentage values to two decimal places.

2. Did the performance turned in by the investment manager underperform or outperform the S&P 500? By how much? Show your work.

3. Which sector turned in the greatest positive contribution to the portfolio's performance? Explain why this investment made the greatest positive contribution based on the differences in weighting and the sector over- or under- performance.

4. Which sector made the greatest negative contribution to the portfolio's performance? Explain why this investment made the greatest negative contribution based on the differences in weighting and the sector over- or under- performance.

Part 2: Portfolio Analysis

Use the three portfolios shown below to answer questions 5-8 in Part 2

5. Based on beta, which portfolio has the highest level of systematic risk? Show your work.

6. If the risk-free rate is 5.5 percent, which of these portfolios has the highest reward-to-risk ratio? Show your work.

7. Suppose that the risk-free rate is 5.5 percent, the return over a three-year period for each portfolio matches its expected return, and the portfolios have 3-year annual return standard deviations as follows:

Portfolio 1 22%

Portfolio 2 26%

Portfolio 3 18%

If you were restricted to selecting one of the three portfolios to invest all your money in, which should you choose based on that portfolio having the best ratio of excess return per unit of total risk as measured by its Sharpe ratio?

8. Suppose that the actual returns for Portfolios 1, 2, and 3 were as follows:

Portfolio 1 11.3

Portfolio 2 12.5

Portfolio 3 9.4

Also assume that the risk-free rate was 5.5 percent and the average return on the market portfolio was 8 percent.

a. Which of the three portfolios has the highest Jensen's alpha? Show your work.

b. Which has the highest Treynor ratio? Show your work.

Part 3: Selecting a Portfolio

Use the two portfolios shown in the tables below to answer the questions in Part 3

9. In your role as a financial advisor, you're advising a client, Sally, a 30-year old computer programmer who makes an above-average salary. She's investing money in her 401(k) that she doesn't plan to use until retirement. In your opinion, which of the two portfolios above would be most appropriate for these funds? In your answer, explain why you believe the portfolio you've chosen is appropriate and explain why the portfolio you didn't choose is not appropriate.

10.In your role as a financial advisor, you're advising a client, Bob, who has just retired and rolled over his 401(k) into a self-directed IRA account.

Bob intends to use these funds to provide income to live on in his retirement. In your opinion, which of the two portfolios above would be most appropriate for these funds? In your answer, explain why you believe the portfolio you've chosen is appropriate and explain why the portfolio you didn't choose is not appropriate.

Attachment:- Securities and Investments.rar