Free CFA-Level-III Exam Braindumps (page: 26)

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Somerset Investment Limited is a Singapore-based money management firm that is conducting an appraisal of its investment performance. Cameron Li, CFA, has been charged with conducting the appraisal, and is to report back to upper management with his findings.
Li is convinced that trade executions play a substantial role in overall portfolio performance, particularly for funds that have a relatively high level of turnover during the year. As a result, he is seeking methods that will allow him to evaluate the quality of trade executions.
He knows that the firm's traders use both market and limit orders, and he is wondering if a framework can be developed to ensure that the best order type is used under the specific circumstances for each trade. When he consults with the firm's head trader, Rick Gleeson, Gleeson tells him that market orders have price uncertainty but no execution uncertainty, while limit orders eliminate price uncertainty but have execution uncertainty.

According to Gleeson, rebalancing and liquidity-motivated trades should use limit orders while value-motivated and information-motivated trades should use market orders.
Li knows that bid-ask spreads are a major component of trading costs, and asks Gleeson for some recent trade data that he can use for analysis and presentation to management. He receives the following data relating to a series of buy trades for Sumatra Natural Resources (SNR), with all currency values in Singapore dollars:

Trades of Sumatra Natural Resources

Gleeson also tells Li that the portfolio manager had originally made the decision to purchase 5,000 SNR at 10:00 a.m. when the price was $22.36. The closing price for the day was Leeson's last trade at $22.65, at which point the order for the remaining 2,000 shares was cancelled.

Determine which of the following statements concerning an algorithmic trading strategy is most incorrect. An algorithmic trading strategy:

  1. ensures that the portfolio does not become over-concentrated (in specific assets or sectors), because it is based on quantitative rules.
  2. involves the use of automated processes based on quantitative measures, such as the ratio of the trade size to average daily volume, to guide trading decisions.
  3. called simple logical participation breaks trades into small pieces to avoid detection and to minimize market impact costs.

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

Because an algorithmic trading strategy involves mechanical rules to guide trading, one of rhe concerns is that the portfolio can become over-concentrated. For example, the portfolio could become over-concentrated in sectors that are more liquid and easier to trade when buying, and the opposite problem could occur when selling (i.e., the most liquid assets are sold first, leaving the portfolio over-concentrated in illiquid securities). (Study Session 16, LOS 45.m)



Jack Mercer and June Seagram are investment advisors for Northern Advisors. Mercer graduated from a prestigious university in London eight years ago, whereas Seagram is newly graduated from a mid-western university in the United States. Northern provides investment advice for pension funds, foundations, endowments, and trusts. As part of their services, they evaluate the performance of outside portfolio managers. They are currently scrutinizing the performance of several portfolio managers who work for the Thompson University endowment.
Over the most recent month, the record of the largest manager. Bison Management, is as follows. On March 1, the endowment account with Bison stood at $ 11,200,000. On March 16, the university contributed $4,000,000 that they received from a wealthy alumnus. After receiving that contribution, the account was valued at $ 17,800,000. On March 31, the account was valued at $16,100,000. Using this information, Mercer and Seagram calculated the time-weighted and money-weighted returns for Bison during March. Mercer states that the advantage of the time-weighted return is that it is easy to calculate and administer. Seagram states that the money-weighted return is, however, a better measure of the manager's performance.
Mercer and Seagram are also evaluating the performance of Lunar Management. Risk and return data for the most recent fiscal year are shown below for both Bison and Lunar. The minimum acceptable return (MAR) for Thompson is the 4.5% spending rate on the endowment, which the endowment has determined using a geometric spending rule. The T-bill return over the same fiscal year was 3.5%. The return on the MSCI World Index was used as the market index. The World index had a return of 9% in dollar terms with a standard deviation of 23% and a beta of 1.0.

The next day at lunch, Mercer and Seagram discuss alternatives for benchmarks in assessing the performance of managers. The alternatives discussed that day are manager universes, broad market indices, style indices, factor models, and custom benchmarks. Mercer states that manager universes have the advantage of being measurable but they are subject to survivor bias. Seagram states that manager universes possess only one quality of a valid benchmark.
Mercer and Seagram also provide investment advice for a hedge fund, Jaguar Investors. Jaguar specializes in exploiting mispricing in equities and over-the-counter derivatives in emerging markets. They periodically engage in providing foreign currency hedges to small firms in emerging markets when deemed profitable. This most commonly occurs when no other provider of these contracts is available to these firms. Jaguar is selling a large position in Mexican pesos in the spot market. Furthermore, they have just provided a forward contract to a firm in Russia that allows that firm to sell Swiss francs for Russian rubles in 90 days. Jaguar has also entered into a currency swap that allows a firm to receive Japanese yen in exchange for paying the Russian ruble.

The time-weighted and money-weighted returns for Bison during March (assuming compounding every half- month) are closest to:
Time-weighted Money-weighted

  1. 5.9% 6.8%
  2. 5.9% 3.4%
  3. 11.4% 6.8%

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The time-weighted return is approximately 11.4% and money-weighted return is 6.8%. To calculate the time- weighted return, first calculate the returns for each period:
Sub-period 1 (Days 1-16):

To obtain the money weighted-return, we can use our financial calculator. We assume compounding every 15 days because the cash flow comes exactly in the middle of the monch, such that it is 15 days from the beginning of the period and 15 days from the end of the period. Using the IRR function on thcTI BAII Plus®:

To convert this haif-monrh return to a monthly return, we compound it over two periods: MWR = (1.0336)2 -1 = 0.0683 - 6.8% (Study Session 17, LOS 47.c)



Jack Mercer and June Seagram are investment advisors for Northern Advisors. Mercer graduated from a prestigious university in London eight years ago, whereas Seagram is newly graduated from a mid-western university in the United States. Northern provides investment advice for pension funds, foundations, endowments, and trusts. As part of their services, they evaluate the performance of outside portfolio managers. They are currently scrutinizing the performance of several portfolio managers who work for the Thompson University endowment.
Over the most recent month, the record of the largest manager. Bison Management, is as follows. On March 1, the endowment account with Bison stood at $ 11,200,000. On March 16, the university contributed $4,000,000 that they received from a wealthy alumnus. After receiving that contribution, the account was valued at $ 17,800,000. On March 31, the account was valued at $16,100,000. Using this information, Mercer and Seagram calculated the time-weighted and money-weighted returns for Bison during March. Mercer states that the advantage of the time-weighted return is that it is easy to calculate and administer. Seagram states that the money-weighted return is, however, a better measure of the manager's performance.

Mercer and Seagram are also evaluating the performance of Lunar Management. Risk and return data for the most recent fiscal year are shown below for both Bison and Lunar. The minimum acceptable return (MAR) for Thompson is the 4.5% spending rate on the endowment, which the endowment has determined using a geometric spending rule. The T-bill return over the same fiscal year was 3.5%. The return on the MSCI World Index was used as the market index. The World index had a return of 9% in dollar terms with a standard deviation of 23% and a beta of 1.0.

The next day at lunch, Mercer and Seagram discuss alternatives for benchmarks in assessing the performance of managers. The alternatives discussed that day are manager universes, broad market indices, style indices, factor models, and custom benchmarks. Mercer states that manager universes have the advantage of being measurable but they are subject to survivor bias. Seagram states that manager universes possess only one quality of a valid benchmark.
Mercer and Seagram also provide investment advice for a hedge fund, Jaguar Investors. Jaguar specializes in exploiting mispricing in equities and over-the-counter derivatives in emerging markets. They periodically engage in providing foreign currency hedges to small firms in emerging markets when deemed profitable. This most commonly occurs when no other provider of these contracts is available to these firms. Jaguar is selling a large position in Mexican pesos in the spot market. Furthermore, they have just provided a forward contract to a firm in Russia that allows that firm to sell Swiss francs for Russian rubles in 90 days. Jaguar has also entered into a currency swap that allows a firm to receive Japanese yen in exchange for paying the Russian ruble.

The time-weighted and money-weighted returns for Bison during March (assuming compounding every half- month) are closest to:
Regarding their statements about time-weighted and money-weighted returns, determine whether Mercer and Seagram are correct or incorrect.

  1. Only Mercer is correct.
  2. Both are correct.
  3. Neither is correct.

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

Mercer is incorrect, because alchough rime-weigh red return may be easy to calculate, it is not easy to administer. Accounts must be valued every time a significant cash inflow or outflow occurs. For most accounts this would mean daily valuations- Marking to market daily can be expensive to administer and potentially introduces more errors.
Seagram is incorrect because the money-weighted return is influenced by the timing of external cash flows, over which the manager may have no control. In this example, the manager received a cash flow in the middle of the month, Thus, the return during the second half of the month was weighted more heavily than the return during the first half of the month. The manager's return during the first half of the month was quite impressive but the return during the second half of the month was negative. Consequently, the time-weighted return was

11.44% and money-weighced return was lower ar 6.8%. The money-weighted return penalizes the manager, because the contribution was not received until later in the month and the manager had no control over this. (Study Session 17, LOS 47.c)



Jack Mercer and June Seagram are investment advisors for Northern Advisors. Mercer graduated from a prestigious university in London eight years ago, whereas Seagram is newly graduated from a mid-western university in the United States. Northern provides investment advice for pension funds, foundations, endowments, and trusts. As part of their services, they evaluate the performance of outside portfolio managers. They are currently scrutinizing the performance of several portfolio managers who work for the Thompson University endowment.
Over the most recent month, the record of the largest manager. Bison Management, is as follows. On March 1, the endowment account with Bison stood at $ 11,200,000. On March 16, the university contributed $4,000,000 that they received from a wealthy alumnus. After receiving that contribution, the account was valued at $ 17,800,000. On March 31, the account was valued at $16,100,000. Using this information, Mercer and Seagram calculated the time-weighted and money-weighted returns for Bison during March. Mercer states that the advantage of the time-weighted return is that it is easy to calculate and administer. Seagram states that the money-weighted return is, however, a better measure of the manager's performance.
Mercer and Seagram are also evaluating the performance of Lunar Management. Risk and return data for the most recent fiscal year are shown below for both Bison and Lunar. The minimum acceptable return (MAR) for Thompson is the 4.5% spending rate on the endowment, which the endowment has determined using a geometric spending rule. The T-bill return over the same fiscal year was 3.5%. The return on the MSCI World Index was used as the market index. The World index had a return of 9% in dollar terms with a standard deviation of 23% and a beta of 1.0.

The next day at lunch, Mercer and Seagram discuss alternatives for benchmarks in assessing the performance of managers. The alternatives discussed that day are manager universes, broad market indices, style indices, factor models, and custom benchmarks. Mercer states that manager universes have the advantage of being measurable but they are subject to survivor bias. Seagram states that manager universes possess only one quality of a valid benchmark.
Mercer and Seagram also provide investment advice for a hedge fund, Jaguar Investors. Jaguar specializes in exploiting mispricing in equities and over-the-counter derivatives in emerging markets. They periodically engage in providing foreign currency hedges to small firms in emerging markets when deemed profitable. This most commonly occurs when no other provider of these contracts is available to these firms. Jaguar is selling a large position in Mexican pesos in the spot market. Furthermore, they have just provided a forward contract to a firm in Russia that allows that firm to sell Swiss francs for Russian rubles in 90 days. Jaguar has also entered into a currency swap that allows a firm to receive Japanese yen in exchange for paying the Russian ruble.
The M-squared measure for the Bison fund is closest to:

  1. 2.2%.
  2. 6.4%.
  3. 11.2%.

Answer(s): C

Explanation:

The M-squared measure for che Bison fund is 11.2%.
To calculate the M-squared rario for Bison, use the following formula:

We compare the M2 of 11.2% ro the return on chc market of 9% and conclude that, compared to the market, the Bison Fund had superior risk-adjusted performance over the period. (Study Session 17, LOS 47.f)






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