Investors should only consider portfolios on the efficient frontier.
a) True
b) False
a) True
The capital market line is created by combining the market portfolio and the risk free asset.
a) True
b) False
a) True
The riskiness of a portfolio declines as more and more securities are added to it until the portfolio becomes almost risk free.
a) True
b) False
b) False
The standard deviation—not the riskiness of a portfolio—will decline, but only toward the standard deviation of the market portfolio.
The degree of a client's risk tolerance is unaffected by any specific investment objective.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Studies of risk tolerance show that clients may have different degrees of risk tolerance for different investment goals.
If the consequences of the decision will be known right away, the decision maker generally will be relatively more risk averse than if the consequences of the decision will be unknown for some time.
a) True
b) False
a) True
The more choices offered to an investor, the more likely he or she is to invest.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Recent studies of employees who were offered 401(k) programs through their jobs found that the more choices the employees had, the less likely they were to participate in any program at all! In other words, too much choice appeared to produce "analysis paralysis."
When a person is retired, his or her wealth is measured strictly by his or her financial assets.
a) True
b) False
a) True
The value of human capital will actually grow for most of a person's working career if he or she receives steady increases in wage income.
a) True
b) False
a) True
Diversification is important even for younger people making their first investment.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Because human capital tends to dwarf financial assets for younger workers, the degree of diversification for the financial assets is somewhat immaterial.
Because of time diversification, people with long time horizons should always consider only the riskiest possible portfolios.
a) True
b) False
b) False
The longer the time horizon, the greater the potential variability of the holding period return. Hence all investors should not consider only the riskiest portfolios.
Constant relative risk aversion is an academic term to describe the assumption that a person has the same risk tolerance despite the amount of wealth that he or she currently has.
a) True
b) False
a) True
An investor can compensate for bad investment results in the early years of a retirement portfolio by small reductions in his or her current consumption habits.
a) True
b) False
a) True
Strategic asset allocation decisions are made for the purpose of beating the market.
a) True
b) False
b) False
It is tactical, not strategic, asset allocation decisions that are made for the purpose of beating the market.
The time of year when a client makes the first investment in a retirement portfolio has no significance.
a) True
b) False
b) False
It can make a substantial difference in the final value of the portfolio as to whether a person makes his or her investment at the start or the end of the year.
A client who has had some bad returns on his or her retirement portfolio can compensate by increasing the portfolio's risk exposure to obtain higher rates of return.
a) True
b) False
b) False
Increasing the risk exposure will result in a client holding a portfolio that is riskier than what he or she wants. Furthermore, the additional risk might compound the problem of poor portfolio performance.
A particularly effective asset allocation strategy is to hold bonds in the tax-qualified accounts and stocks in the nonqualified accounts.
a) True
b) False
b) False
The problem with this strategy is that it might not produce the asset allocation weights that are considered appropriate for the client.
Under certain conditions, it may make sense to use a tax-qualified account to invest funds for nonretirement purposes.
a) True
b) False
a) True
There is no evidence of uniformity of asset allocation among retirement-oriented mutual funds, even when they have the same retirement date objective.
a) True
b) False
a) True
Making a principal payment on a mortgage is the same as investing one's money at a risk-free rate equal to the mortgage interest rate.
a) True
b) False
a) True
Which of the following combinations best characterizes strategic asset allocation?
A) a few broad asset categories, a range of weights, and analogous to selecting a portfolio on the efficient frontier.
The others are incorrect because they all contain elements of tactical asset allocation activities, which include a large number of asset categories, precise weights, and an intention to "beat" the market.
Which of the following statements should be considered when deciding whether or not to borrow money from a 401(k) plan?
A) If stocks are sold to provide the cash to make the loan, then making the loan increases the percentage of the 401(k) portfolio invested in debt.
Under some circumstances, borrowing from a 401(k) may be a good strategy.
The trustee is obligated to set a market interest rate on such a loan.
In some cases the interest rate paid on such a loan may be as good as or better than the rate of return that would have been received.
Which of the following statements regarding younger clients who have a high tolerance for risk and are considering paying down their mortgage is (are) correct?
I. For younger clients with high risk tolerances who want higher expected returns, this option is not desirable because it is conceptually the same as investing in bonds.
II. Younger clients would be better off putting what would have been principal payments into more aggressive investments such as stocks and paying off the mortgage by liquidating the stocks at a later date.
C) Both I and II
Paying down the principal on a mortgage is analogous to a conservative investment. Hence, clients who are young (and thus have the capacity of taking on risk) and aggressive (by nature) would be good candidates to minimize prepayment of principal on a mortgage.
All the following statements concerning modern portfolio theory are correct EXCEPT
B) The capital market line lies beneath the efficient frontier.
The capital market line by definition is the efficient frontier. If one considers the efficient frontier that could be created without a risk-free asset, then the capital market line lies above this frontier. This is because it is formed by the line emanating from the risk-free rate of return that is tangent to the efficient frontier without the risk-free asset.
All the following statements concerning a client’s perception of risk are correct EXCEPT
B) The more choices a person has regarding investment opportunities, the more likely that person is to invest.
Research has repeatedly shown that more choices lead to "analysis paralysis," that is, a lack of action.
All the following statements concerning human capital and its relationship to financial wealth are correct EXCEPT
A) A person’s human capital declines with each year worked.
In the early years of a person’s career, his or her human capital actually grows with the passage of time because the increase in the present value of the higher earning years is greater than the income received each year.
Which of the following statements about time diversification is (are) correct?
I. Because of the benefits of time diversification, people with long time horizons should always invest exclusively in stocks.
II. The further one is forecasting into the future, the greater the variance of the dollar value of the final portfolio.
B) II only
I is incorrect because investments solely in stock when there are long time horizons still involve some risk of graver results than conservative investments would yield.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding modern portfolio theory (MPT)?
B) The efficient frontier is constructed using a mathematical tool known as quadratic programming.
MPT makes the assumption that one can identify for each pair of securities the covarianceof the returns for those two securities.
If the covariance for two securities is large and negative, the prices of the two securitieswould almost always move in the opposite direction.
MPT is based on the premise that all investments may be characterized with two basicnumbers – expected returns and standard deviations of these returns.
All of the following statements are correct regarding modern portfolio theory EXCEPT:
D) The capital market line is a line formed by combinations of the market portfolio and thesecurities market line.
The capital market line is a line formed by combinations of the market portfolio (M) and the risk-freeasset.
All of the following statements are correct regarding modern portfolio theory EXCEPT:
A) Negatively correlated assets are necessary to reduce the risk of portfolios.
As long as the correlation coefficient between assets is less than 1, the risk of the portfolio will bereduced. The word “necessary” makes this choice incorrect.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the principles of diversification?
I. On average, no amount of portfolio diversification can reduce the total risk of a portfolio belowthat of the market portfolio.
II. The optimal portfolio size is directly related to the magnitude of the commission one pays.
A) Only I.
II is incorrect. The optimal portfolio size is inversely related to the magnitude of the commission one pays.
Diversification can eliminate which one of the following types of risks?
B) Unsystematic risk.
Unsystematic risk is risk that can be reduced or eliminated through diversification.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding risk tolerance in given situations?
A) If the consequences of a decision will be known soon, the decision maker will be relativelymore risk averse.
Generally, individuals are willing to take on more risk if they have a long-term time horizon.
Investors should generally take on more risk with their retirement portfolio than withportfolios associated with other goals.
Individuals tend to be the most risk averse when the amount at risk is large.
Studies have shown that even after an individual overcomes a fear through training, the fear does not disappear completely.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding risk tolerance?
I. Clients often have different degrees of risk tolerance for different investment goals.
II. Studies have shown that the more 401(k) investment choices an individual has, the less likelythe individual is participate in the plan.
D) Neither I nor II.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding the concept of the portfolio of assets?
A) Investors should attempt to minimize the correlation between their human capital and their financial assets.
Human capital refers to an individual’s capacity to generate income.
A simple way to define an individual’s wealth is to add their human capital and theirfinancial assets.
When individuals begin their career, their wealth mostly consists of their human capital.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding rates of return?
B) The greater the standard deviation, the greater the spread between the geometric mean returnand the arithmetic mean return for a given security.
The arithmetic mean rate of return can be misleading because it reflects the average, noteffective, rate of return over time.
The geometric mean return and the arithmetic mean return for a given security will beequal when all per period return relatives (PPRRs) are equal.
The geometric mean return is the effective annual rate of return over multiple time periods.
ABC Corporation stock has an arithmetic mean return of 8% and a standard deviation of 6%. Ifnext year’s return is based on this distribution, there is a 95% probably that the return on this stock willfall within what percentage range?
a) 6%-8%.
b) 2%-14%.
c) (4%)-20%.
d) 5.7%-7.6%.
There is a 95% probability that the actual return will fall within two standard deviations from the arithmetic mean. As a result:
Low return= 8% - [6%*2] = (4%)
High return= 8% + [6%*2] = 20%
All of the following are critical assumptions of Samuelson’s work relating to time diversificationEXCEPT:
B) Investors will periodically modify their asset allocation based on their time horizon.
Samuelson has shown that under certain circumstances, investors will hold the same asset allocationregardless of time horizon.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding time diversification?
I. Empirical evidence generally supports the constant relative risk aversion assumption.
II. The mean reversion process theory states that returns each year are completely independentof the prior year’s returns.
D) Neither I nor II.
I is incorrect. The constant relative risk aversion assumption assumes that a person has the same risktolerance despite the amount of wealth accumulated. Empirical evidence indicates that this is NOT thecase.
II is incorrect. The random walk theory states that returns each year are completely independent of theprior year’s returns. Mean reversion process means that a particularly high rate of return in one periodwill typically be followed by a particularly low rate of return in the next period.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding time diversification?
I. Investors with long time horizons until retirement should only consider the riskiest possibleportfolios.
II. The longer the time horizon, the greater the potential variability of the holding period return.
B) Only II.
I is incorrect. Investors should consider several portfolios, including those that are not as risky.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding strategic asset allocation?
B. A planner following this allocation method may choose index funds for a client.
Strategic asset allocations are normally made with broad asset categories.
The purpose of strategic asset allocation is to determine the portfolio’s overall riskexposure.
Strategic asset allocation decisions are made only occasionally.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding tactical asset allocation?
D. These decisions are made more frequently than strategic asset allocation decisions.
Tactical asset allocations use more asset categories than strategic asset allocation.
The purpose of tactical asset allocation is to outperform the market.
Board of trustees should use strategic asset allocation.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding the characteristics of strategic assetallocation and tactical asset allocation?
B) Tactical asset allocation decisions typically include many more asset categories than strategic asset allocation decisions.
Tactical asset allocation decisions are typically made more frequently than strategic assetallocation decisions.
Tactical asset allocation decisions are made for the purpose of beating the market.
Financial planners who believe in the efficient market hypothesis would not necessarilyengage in tactical asset allocation. Tactical asset allocation decisions imply that the planner believes they can outperform other investors, which is inconsistent with the efficient market hypothesis.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding the concept of diversification?
C) One problem with computing covariance is there is no standard of comparison.
A concentrated portfolio will expose the investor to non-market risk. All investors areexposed to market risk.
In order to achieve diversification, an investor must hold securities whose correlation coefficients are low.
The Woerheide-Persson diversification index does not consider the extent to which stocksin a portfolio are related.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding taxation of investments?
I. The traditional tax-efficient asset allocation argument indicates that fixed-income investmentsshould be held in tax-deferred accounts, while equities should be held in taxable accounts.
II. One of the primary arguments for investing in mutual funds is tax efficiency.
A) Only I.
II is incorrect. Mutual funds are generally considered tax-inefficient, and this is one of the primaryarguments AGAINST investing in mutual funds.
All of the following statements are correct regarding the break-even holding period (BHP)EXCEPT:
B) Higher investment rates of return tend to lengthen the BHP.
Higher investment rates of return tend to shorten the BHP because the deferral of taxation becomes moreattractive.
Reasons an individual would choose to take out an interest-only mortgage loan include:
I. They can increase the amount of money available for new investments.
II. They can afford a bigger house.
C) Both I and II.
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding risk over various planning horizons?
I. The actual risk associated with “riskier” investments may be less than that associated with“safer” investments when the investment planning horizon is longer term.
II. For shorter term objectives, bonds or money market instruments may present much less riskthan stocks.
C) Both I and II.
Which of the following statements is correct regarding dollar cost averaging?
A) Dollar cost averaging is a passive method of investing that can help individuals overcome theirfear of investing.
Dollar cost averaging involves the investment of a fixed dollar amount at specific time intervals.
Dollar cost averaging usually results in a lower average purchase price per share, becausemore shares are purchased when the price is low and fewer shares are purchased when the price is high.
It will not protect investors in the case of a steadily declining market.
