Investment Analysis

An Introduction to Hedge Funds

What are Hedge Funds?

A hedge fund is a type of private placement investment that is managed by investment management firms and is made up of sophisticated or institutional investors. The fundamental reason why various individuals participate in hedge funds is to protect themselves from losses in other assets. Managers of investment pools employ a variety of tactics, including leverage and esoteric asset trading, in an attempt to outperform the markets in terms of returns. Hedge funds invest in portfolios built with high risk management strategies in order to produce large returns even in the worst-case scenarios.

Hedge funds displays multiple characteristics which are discussed below:

  • Hedge funds are financial instruments which requires investment of large amount of capital and thus is not available to general public just as mutual funds are.
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Impact of Interest Bearing Securities in Portfolio Management

Money market is a segment of the financial market where the securities are traded for shorter term and the risk associated with the money market is comparatively lower than the capital market. On the other hand, capital market is that section of the financial, market where the securities are traded for longer term and the risk is higher than the money market. The securities, which yield interest, are referred as the interest bearing securities. There are two types of interest bearing securities. One is fixed interest-bearing securities and the other is variable interest securities. The key interest rate in the capital market includes interest on public corporation bonds, government bonds, and rates on deposit of long-term debentures.… Read the rest

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Difference Between Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Pension Schemes

Pension is a fund that is built during the working life of the employee and then used to secure the income after retirement. These funds can be operated by employer (occupational pension) who invests over time or alternatively employee can invest in a fund of their choice (private pension scheme). Both of these schemes generate income after retirement.

Pension schemes are of two major types:

  1. Defined Benefit Scheme
  2. Defined Contribution Scheme
1. Defined Benefit Scheme

Defined benefit scheme is a type of pension scheme which ensures a particular level of income/benefit after retirement. Most of the cost of the benefit and risk of the investment is borne by the employer however in the contributory define benefit scheme employees also make compulsory contributions.… Read the rest

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Risks Associated with Derivatives

Although derivatives are legitimate and valuable tools for hedging risks, like all financial instruments they create risks that must be managed. Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most wise investors, states that “derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”

On one hand derivatives neutralize risks while on the other hand they create risks. In fact there are certain risks inherent in derivatives. Derivatives can be dangerous if not managed properly. Numerous financial disasters such as Enron can be related to the mismanagement of derivatives. In the 1990s, Procter & Gamble lost $157 million in a currency speculation involving dollars and German Marks, Gibson Greetings lost $20 million and Long-Term Capital Management, a hedge fund, lost $4 billion with currency and interest-rate derivatives.… Read the rest

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Fama and French Three Factor Model

Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is the backbone of modern portfolio theory. According to CAPM, the expected return on stock is a function of its relationship with the market portfolio defined by its beta. However, Eugene Fama and Kenneth French (1992) brought together two more factors and found that stock return is based on a combination of not just market beta but also firm size and value. They came up with a new model known as  Three Factor Model  as an alternative to CAPM.

What is Fama and French Three Factor Model?

Fama and French three factor model expands on the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) by adding size and value factors in addition to the market risk factor in CAPM.… Read the rest

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Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT)

A substitute and concurrent theory to the Capital Asset Pricing Model  (CAPM)  is one that incorporates multiple factors in explaining the movement of asset prices. The arbitrage pricing model (APT) on the other hand approaches pricing from a different aspect.    It is rarely successful to analyse portfolio risks by assessing the weighted sum of its components.   Equity portfolios are far more diverse and enormously large for separate component assessment, and the correlation existing between the elements would make a calculation as such untrue.   Rather, the portfolio’s risk should be viewed as a single product’s innate risk.   The APT represents portfolio risk by a factor model that is linear, where returns are a sum of risk factor returns.  … Read the rest

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