IMC Quantitative Methods and Risk 2

Question 1

What is the difference between systematic and unsystematic risk?

Accepted Answer

Systematic risk affects the entire market and cannot be diversified away; unsystematic risk is company-specific and can be reduced through diversification

Answer

Systematic risk (market risk) arises from macroeconomic factors like interest rates, recessions, and geopolitical events that affect all securities. Unsystematic risk (specific risk) relates to individual companies or sectors, such as a product recall or management failure. Only unsystematic risk can be reduced through diversification.

Question 2

An investor holds a bond portfolio and is concerned about rising interest rates. Which hedging strategy would be most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Sell interest rate futures (go short)

Answer

Selling (shorting) interest rate futures would profit when interest rates rise and bond prices fall, offsetting losses on the bond portfolio. Buying call options would profit if bond prices rose. Buying longer-duration bonds would increase interest rate sensitivity, and equities may also be negatively affected by rate rises.

Question 3

What is the holding period return (HPR) for a share purchased at £50, sold at £58, with £2 in dividends received?

Accepted Answer

20%

Answer

HPR = (Ending Value - Beginning Value + Income) / Beginning Value = (£58 - £50 + £2) / £50 = £10 / £50 = 20%. The holding period return captures both the capital gain (£8) and the income received (£2 dividend) relative to the initial investment.

Question 4

What does a normal distribution assumption imply about investment returns?

Accepted Answer

Returns are symmetrically distributed around the mean, with most observations clustered near the average

Answer

A normal distribution is bell-shaped and symmetric around the mean. Approximately 68% of observations fall within one standard deviation, 95% within two, and 99.7% within three. While convenient for modelling, real financial returns often exhibit 'fat tails' (more extreme events than a normal distribution predicts).

Question 5

What is the Sharpe ratio of a portfolio with a return of 12%, a risk-free rate of 3%, and a standard deviation of 15%?

Accepted Answer

0.60

Answer

Sharpe ratio = (Portfolio Return - Risk-Free Rate) / Standard Deviation = (12% - 3%) / 15% = 9% / 15% = 0.60. This means the portfolio earned 0.60 units of excess return per unit of total risk. A higher ratio indicates better risk-adjusted performance.

IMC Practice Test

IMC Practice Test

IMC Quantitative Methods and Risk 2