Chapter 14
Risk from the Shareholders Perspective
Focus of the chapter is the mean-variance capital
asset pricing model (CAPM)
Goal is to explain the relationship between risk and
required return
CAPM is a simple model of a complex reality
The Key CAPM Relationship
In an equilibrium market
(Ra)=Rf+ a,m[E(Rm)Rf]
Where:
E(Ra)=expectedreturnforanasset
Rf = Risk-free interest rate
a,m= Beta of the asset with regard to the market
portfolio
E(Rm)=Expectedreturnforthemarketportfolio
Key Assumptions Underlying CAPM
Investors choose portfolios based on expected
return and standard deviation
Investors agree on expected returns, standard
deviations, and correlation for all assets
Investors can borrow and lend at risk-free rate
Frictionless markets: no taxes or transaction
costs, all investments completely divisible, no
single investor large enough to affect price
Uses of the CAPM Relationship
Cost of capital calculations for a company
Performance of a fully diversified stock or
portfolio. Expected relationship:
[RpRf]/p=[RmRf]/m
Performance of a portfolio that is not fully
diversified, such as a sector fund:
(RpRf)/p,m = RmRf
Usefulness of the CAPM
CAPM is a simple model of a complex reality
Standard for evaluation is not perfection in
explaining observed returns,
Standard for evaluation is sufficient combination
of accuracy and simplicity for practical use
Accuracy of the CAPM
Hundreds of tests have been conducted
Explains differences in return between assets, but does not
explain all differences
Factors other than beta appear to affect returns:
Variance for the asset
Stocks of small firms tend to provide higher returns
Time-of-year effects
Beta explains a relatively small portion of differences in
returns among stocks
Most differences appear to be company-specific rather
than systematic
Application to Capital Budgeting
CAPM provides risk-adjusted required return on
equity for the company
CAPM can be applied if the risk-free rate, market
risk premium, and systematic risk of the asset
remain constant over time
Typically assume a holding period equal to the
average life of the proposed project.
Application to Capital Budgeting
Beta may be estimated using
Historical
returns for the company
Betas for comparable companies
Other methods such as state of nature models
Application to Capital Budgeting
Must estimate expected return on the market
portfolio
Long-term historical returns are commonly used
Other methods such as analyst forecasts are also used
There is still substantial debate as to the long-term
expected return for the market portfolio
Historical returns may over-estimate expected returns
because a decrease in required return results in an
increase in realized return
Application to Capital Budgeting
Risk-free rate
Typically
assume a long-term risk-free rate,
matching the average life of the asset.
Use in Capital Budgeting
CAPM is widely used to estimate the required
return on equity for capital budgeting
Firms frequently look at other risk measures as
well:
Total project risk
Impact of the project on company risk
International Investments
The international application to capital budgeting is
often simplified to:
Ke=Rf+ G[E(RG)Rf]
Where
Rf=[Link]
G=dollardenominatedreturnsfortheproposed
investmentinrelationtodollardenominated
returnsontheglobalmarketindex
E(RG)=expecteddollardenominatedreturnon
theglobalmarketindex