Free CFA-Level-III Exam Braindumps

Theresa Bair, CFA, a portfolio manager for Brinton Investment Company (BIC), has recently been promoted to lead portfolio manager for her firm's new small capitalization closed-end equity fund, the Quaker Fund. BIC is an asset management firm headquartered in Holland with regional offices in several other European countries. After accepting the position, Bair received a letter from the three principals of BIC. The letter congratulated Bair on her accomplishment and new position with the firm and also provided some guidance as to her new role and the firm's expectations. Among other things, the letter stated the following:

"Because our firm is based in Holland and you will have clients located in many European countries, it is essential that you determine what laws and regulations are applicable to the management of this new fund. It is your responsibility to obtain this knowledge and comply with appropriate regulations. This is the first time we have offered a fund devoted solely to small capitalization securities, so we will observe your progress carefully. You will likely need to arrange for our sister companies to quietly buy and sell Quaker Fund shares over the first month of operations. This will provide sufficient price support to allow the fund to trade closer to its net asset value than other small-cap closed-end funds. Because these funds generally trade at a discount to net asset value, if our fund trades close to its net asset value, the market may perceive it as more desirable than similar funds managed by our competitors."
Bair heeded the advice from her firm's principals and collected information on the laws and regulations of three countries: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. So far, all of the investors expressing interest in the Quaker Fund are from these areas. Based on her research, Bair decides the following policies are appropriate for the fund: Note: Laws mentioned below are assumed for illustrative purposes.

• For clients located in Norway the fund will institute transaction crossing, since, unlike in Holland, the practice is not prohibited by securities laws or regulations. The process will involve internally matching buy and sell orders from Norwegian clients whenever possible. This will reduce brokerage fees and improve the fund's overall performance.
• For clients located in Denmark, account statements that include the value of the clients' holdings, number of trades, and average daily trading volume will be generated on a monthly basis as required by Denmark's securities regulators, even though the laws in Holland only require such reports to be generated on a quarterly basis.
• For clients located in Sweden, the fund will not disclose differing levels of service that are available for investors based upon the size of their investment. This policy is consistent with the laws and regulations in Holland. Sweden's securities regulations do not cover this type of situation.
Three months after the inception of the fund, its market value has grown from $200 million to $300 million and Bair's performance has earned her a quarter-end bonus. Since it is now the end of the quarter, Bair is participating in conference calls with companies in her fund. Bair calls into the conference number for Swift Petroleum. The meeting doesn't start for another five minutes, however, and as Bair waits, she hears the CEO and CFO of Swift discussing the huge earnings restatement that will be necessary for the financial statement from the previous quarter. The restatement will not be announced until the year's end, six months from now.

Bair does not remind the officers that she can hear their conversation. Once the call has ended, Bair rushes to BIC's compliance officer to inform him of what she has learned during the conference call. Bair ignores the fact that two members of the firm's investment banking division are in the office while she is telling the compliance officer what happened on the conference call. The investment bankers then proceed to sell their personal holdings of Swift Petroleum stock. After her meeting, Bair sells the Quaker Fund's holdings of Swift Petroleum stock.

Do the suggestions in the letter from the principals of BIC violate any CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct?

Mary Thomas works for Kershaw-Ross, a large investment bank located in London. Kershaw-Ross provides advice to portfolio managers, securities dealers, and hedge funds. Jack Bentley is Thomas assistant. Washington Capital Management, one of Thomas' clients, has a $5 million position in fixed-rate U.S. Treasury bonds. The firm would like to hedge this position using calls on Treasury bonds. The calls each cover $100,000 par value of bonds, have a delta of 0.4, and are out-of-the-money. To hedge this position, Thomas recommends that Washington Capital Management calculate the delta for the call options written on these Treasury bonds.
Later that week, Thomas discusses the particulars of option hedges with Francis Steele, Vice President at Washington Capital Management. Thomas describes how using gamma, the change in delta relative to the change in the underlying asset price, can increase the precision of the hedge. She states that this would be particularly true if the bond portfolio used calls that were at-the-money. Bentley adds that given the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy, Kershaw-Ross has been advising clients to carefully monitor their bond positions for price changes. Bentley states that in Washington Capital Management's case, if the price of the underlying bond increases by 1% due to a yield curve shift, the calf hedge should be decreased because delta would have increased.
Thomas is analyzing the portfolio for one of his investors, Canopy Managers. Last year the portfolio had a market value of $4,881,000 and a dollar duration of $157,200. The current figures for the portfolio are provided below:

Canopy would like to alter the current dollar duration of the portfolio to last year's duration, and they would like to do so with the least amount of cash possible and a controlling position in one of the bonds.
Canopy Managers has also contracted to take out a 9-month loan for $5 million in three months at LIBOR. Canopy's chief financial officer has become concerned that interest rates might increase and has asked Thomas to investigate the possibility of hedging the position with a forward rate agreement. Thomas finds a forward rate agreement is available with the same maturity as Canopy's loan at a rate of 4.40%. The risk free rate is 3.8% and LIBOR is projected to be 4.60% at the inception of the loan.
The next week, Thomas and Bentley visit the headquarters of Capital Pension Management, one of Kershaw- Ross's largest clients. Capital is using contingent immunization to immunize a liability, but management is concerned about a possible rise in interest rates. Thomas states that if she were to recommend the most effective strategy to Capital, she would recommend that they use bonds with high yields because immunization will be cheaper. Bentley interjects that the risk from nonparallel shifts in the yield curve can be minimized by concentrating the cash flows around the horizon date.
Due to their tremendous success, Kershaw-Ross has outgrown their current headquarters and is going to expand their current building. Thomas's team has been charged with securing financing tor the renovations. They currently are considering a remodeling and addition that would cost approximately £5,000,000.
Thomas has secured the financing necessary for the renovations at a floating interest rate of LIBOR plus 150 basis points, with payments made quarterly over three years. Thomas believes that Kershaw-Ross should be able to complete the renovation of the building and close on the loan in one year. She is concerned, however, that interest rates will increase in the interim and has obtained a swaption to hedge the loan. She states that Kershaw-Ross should use a payer swaption to hedge the loan. Bentley evaluates the forecasts for future swap fixed rates as well as the current terms of various swaptions, which are provided below:
Fixed rate for a 1 -year payer swaption = 8.50%
Fixed rate for a 1-year receiver swaption = 8.60%
Projected swap fixed rate in one year = 9.30%
Fixed rate for a 4-year payer swaption - 9.40%
Fixed rate for a 4-year receiver swaption = 9.70%
Projected swap fixed rate in four years = 9.80%

Regarding their statements concerning the strategy of Capital Asset Management, determine whether Thomas and Bentley are correct or incorrect.

Mary Thomas works for Kershaw-Ross, a large investment bank located in London. Kershaw-Ross provides advice to portfolio managers, securities dealers, and hedge funds. Jack Bentley is Thomas assistant. Washington Capital Management, one of Thomas' clients, has a $5 million position in fixed-rate U.S. Treasury bonds. The firm would like to hedge this position using calls on Treasury bonds. The calls each cover $100,000 par value of bonds, have a delta of 0.4, and are out-of-the-money. To hedge this position, Thomas recommends that Washington Capital Management calculate the delta for the call options written on these Treasury bonds.
Later that week, Thomas discusses the particulars of option hedges with Francis Steele, Vice President at Washington Capital Management. Thomas describes how using gamma, the change in delta relative to the change in the underlying asset price, can increase the precision of the hedge. She states that this would be particularly true if the bond portfolio used calls that were at-the-money. Bentley adds that given the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy, Kershaw-Ross has been advising clients to carefully monitor their bond positions for price changes. Bentley states that in Washington Capital Management's case, if the price of the underlying bond increases by 1% due to a yield curve shift, the calf hedge should be decreased because delta would have increased.
Thomas is analyzing the portfolio for one of his investors, Canopy Managers. Last year the portfolio had a market value of $4,881,000 and a dollar duration of $157,200. The current figures for the portfolio are provided below:

Canopy would like to alter the current dollar duration of the portfolio to last year's duration, and they would like to do so with the least amount of cash possible and a controlling position in one of the bonds.
Canopy Managers has also contracted to take out a 9-month loan for $5 million in three months at LIBOR. Canopy's chief financial officer has become concerned that interest rates might increase and has asked Thomas to investigate the possibility of hedging the position with a forward rate agreement. Thomas finds a forward rate agreement is available with the same maturity as Canopy's loan at a rate of 4.40%. The risk free rate is 3.8% and LIBOR is projected to be 4.60% at the inception of the loan.
The next week, Thomas and Bentley visit the headquarters of Capital Pension Management, one of Kershaw- Ross's largest clients. Capital is using contingent immunization to immunize a liability, but management is concerned about a possible rise in interest rates. Thomas states that if she were to recommend the most effective strategy to Capital, she would recommend that they use bonds with high yields because immunization will be cheaper. Bentley interjects that the risk from nonparallel shifts in the yield curve can be minimized by concentrating the cash flows around the horizon date.
Due to their tremendous success, Kershaw-Ross has outgrown their current headquarters and is going to expand their current building. Thomas's team has been charged with securing financing tor the renovations. They currently are considering a remodeling and addition that would cost approximately £5,000,000.
Thomas has secured the financing necessary for the renovations at a floating interest rate of LIBOR plus 150 basis points, with payments made quarterly over three years. Thomas believes that Kershaw-Ross should be able to complete the renovation of the building and close on the loan in one year. She is concerned, however, that interest rates will increase in the interim and has obtained a swaption to hedge the loan. She states that Kershaw-Ross should use a payer swaption to hedge the loan. Bentley evaluates the forecasts for future swap fixed rates as well as the current terms of various swaptions, which are provided below:
Fixed rate for a 1 -year payer swaption = 8.50%
Fixed rate for a 1-year receiver swaption = 8.60%
Projected swap fixed rate in one year = 9.30%
Fixed rate for a 4-year payer swaption - 9.40%
Fixed rate for a 4-year receiver swaption = 9.70%
Projected swap fixed rate in four years = 9.80%

The current credit risk to Canopy from the FRA agreement is closest to:

Mary Thomas works for Kershaw-Ross, a large investment bank located in London. Kershaw-Ross provides advice to portfolio managers, securities dealers, and hedge funds. Jack Bentley is Thomas assistant. Washington Capital Management, one of Thomas' clients, has a $5 million position in fixed-rate U.S. Treasury bonds. The firm would like to hedge this position using calls on Treasury bonds. The calls each cover $100,000 par value of bonds, have a delta of 0.4, and are out-of-the-money. To hedge this position, Thomas recommends that Washington Capital Management calculate the delta for the call options written on these Treasury bonds.
Later that week, Thomas discusses the particulars of option hedges with Francis Steele, Vice President at Washington Capital Management. Thomas describes how using gamma, the change in delta relative to the change in the underlying asset price, can increase the precision of the hedge. She states that this would be particularly true if the bond portfolio used calls that were at-the-money. Bentley adds that given the uncertainty surrounding U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy, Kershaw-Ross has been advising clients to carefully monitor their bond positions for price changes. Bentley states that in Washington Capital Management's case, if the price of the underlying bond increases by 1% due to a yield curve shift, the calf hedge should be decreased because delta would have increased.
Thomas is analyzing the portfolio for one of his investors, Canopy Managers. Last year the portfolio had a market value of $4,881,000 and a dollar duration of $157,200. The current figures for the portfolio are provided below:

Canopy would like to alter the current dollar duration of the portfolio to last year's duration, and they would like to do so with the least amount of cash possible and a controlling position in one of the bonds.
Canopy Managers has also contracted to take out a 9-month loan for $5 million in three months at LIBOR. Canopy's chief financial officer has become concerned that interest rates might increase and has asked Thomas to investigate the possibility of hedging the position with a forward rate agreement. Thomas finds a forward rate agreement is available with the same maturity as Canopy's loan at a rate of 4.40%. The risk free rate is 3.8% and LIBOR is projected to be 4.60% at the inception of the loan.
The next week, Thomas and Bentley visit the headquarters of Capital Pension Management, one of Kershaw- Ross's largest clients. Capital is using contingent immunization to immunize a liability, but management is concerned about a possible rise in interest rates. Thomas states that if she were to recommend the most effective strategy to Capital, she would recommend that they use bonds with high yields because immunization will be cheaper. Bentley interjects that the risk from nonparallel shifts in the yield curve can be minimized by concentrating the cash flows around the horizon date.
Due to their tremendous success, Kershaw-Ross has outgrown their current headquarters and is going to expand their current building. Thomas's team has been charged with securing financing tor the renovations. They currently are considering a remodeling and addition that would cost approximately £5,000,000.
Thomas has secured the financing necessary for the renovations at a floating interest rate of LIBOR plus 150 basis points, with payments made quarterly over three years. Thomas believes that Kershaw-Ross should be able to complete the renovation of the building and close on the loan in one year. She is concerned, however, that interest rates will increase in the interim and has obtained a swaption to hedge the loan. She states that Kershaw-Ross should use a payer swaption to hedge the loan. Bentley evaluates the forecasts for future swap fixed rates as well as the current terms of various swaptions, which are provided below:
Fixed rate for a 1 -year payer swaption = 8.50%
Fixed rate for a 1-year receiver swaption = 8.60%
Projected swap fixed rate in one year = 9.30%
Fixed rate for a 4-year payer swaption - 9.40%
Fixed rate for a 4-year receiver swaption = 9.70%
Projected swap fixed rate in four years = 9.80%

To adjust the dollar duration of the Canopy portfolio to last year's level, the smallest amount Canopy will need to purchase of the bond that acts as a controlling position is closest to: