Cfa Level 1 Mock Test 1
Cfa Level 1 Mock Test 1
Cfa Level 1 Mock Test 1
com
CFA Level I 4th Mock Exam
December, 2016
Revision 1
Questions
Topic
Minutes
1-18
27
19-32
Quantitative Methods
21
33-44
Economics
18
45-68
36
69-76
Corporate Finance
12
77-88
Equity Investments
18
89-94
Derivative Investments
95-106
18
107-112
Alternative Investments
113-120
Portfolio Management
12
Total
180
2.
To be compliant with the GIPS standards, a firms total assets must be the
aggregate of the:
A. market value of all discretionary fee and non-fee paying accounts.
B. fair value of all discretionary and non-discretionary fee-paying accounts.
C. fair value of all discretionary and non-discretionary accounts including
both fee paying and non-fee paying portfolios.
3.
4.
If local laws are in conflict with the GIPS standards, a GIPS compliant firm
should comply with:
A. the law that is more stringent.
B. GIPS standards and disclose the conflict in the compliant presentation.
C. the local laws and make full disclosure of the conflict in the complaint
presentation.
5.
Jim Chao works for an investment management firm that is developing marketing
material to promote its business and attract prospective clients. The firm utilizes
the past 15-years return to a composite that includes only the firms successful
client accounts that have generated an average return of at least 10% during the
time period. Chao does not prepare the marketing material, but is required to use
to it during preliminary meetings with prospective clients.
With regards the use of the marketing material, to be in compliance with Standard
I-A of the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, Chao should most
likely:
A. use the marketing material when soliciting business for the firm.
B. use the marketing material, and disclose the calculation methodology to
the clients.
C. not use the marketing material, and bring the situation to the attention of
the supervisor.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Elaine Sen manages a trust fund worth $50,000. The trust documents transfer
effective control of the funds to Sen and prohibit investing in non-U.S. stocks and
bonds. Sam Kim, a 15 year old girl, is the primary beneficiary of the fund. Just
recently, Kim approached Sen to discuss her educational expenses, stating that an
additional cash flow of $20,000 would be needed each year for her to complete
high school. Owing to the heightened need of cash, Sen deems it appropriate to
invest in high-yield emerging market stocks to increase the fund returns.
Consequently, she invests only 5% of the fund in such stocks.
Sen has most likely violated:
A. no Standards.
B. Standard III(C) Suitability.
C. Standard III(A) Loyalty, Prudence and Care.
11.
12. Alex Lama has just been hired as a research analyst by Exo-Tech Limited (ETL)
to produce a research report on their company. Lama has been provided with all
factual information about the firm that he plans to use to perform a thorough and
unbiased analysis of the firm. ETL has granted Lama 500 stock options in return
for writing the report.
As an independent analyst, has Lama most likely violated best practice with
regards to Standard l-B Independence and Objectivity of the CFA Institute
Standards of Professional Conduct?
A. No.
B. Yes, because her compensation arrangement is not what best practice
recommends.
C. Yes, because she did not disclose the nature of the compensation to
investors.
13. Jessica Wright is a marketing specialist at Capital Managers (CAPM) an asset
management firm in Houston, Texas. Wright has been asked to develop
promotional material for CAPMs Emerging Market Equities Fund created by the
firm around ten years ago. Due to a typographical error, the material prepared by
Wright states that the fund includes Russian securities when in fact, it does not.
Wright presents the material to upper management, who approve it for
distribution to clients. After several days, Wright identifies the mistake and
corrects it immediately.
With regards to Standard I(C)-Misrepresentation, Wright has most likely:
A. violated the Standard since she allowed the erroneous material to be
distributed and did not prepare the material with caution.
B. not violated the Standard since she corrected it immediately after
identifying it.
C. not violated the Standard as long as she informs those who have received
the erroneous information about the error.
14.
15. Adam Blank directs all trades of one of his clients through a broker specified by
the client. Doing so does not help Blank achieve best execution and best price.
Blank discloses this fact to the client but continues trading through the same
broker.
Blank will least likely be in violation of Standard III(A)-Loyalty, Prudence, and
Care if he:
A. continues to trade through the broker.
B. finds and selects a broker that offers the best price.
C. seeks best execution by selecting a different broker and informs the client
about his selection.
16. West & Graham Associates (W&G) is a financial advisory firm that allows its
employees to reissue previously released reports by its own employees without
attributing to those prior W&G analysts.
The firm is most likely in violation of:
A. no standards.
B. Standard I(C)-Misrepresentation.
C. Standard I(B)-Independence & Objectivity and Standard l(C)Misrepresentation.
17.
10
22.
An equity analyst is using the P/E ratio to rank the component firms of a broadbased equity market index. The exhibit below is an excerpt from the information
that the analyst gathered about the 35 companies included in the index.
Exhibit
P/E Data provided in ascending order.
No.
Company
P/E ratio
1
0.55
0.67
1.10
1.47
2.89
The estimate for the 10th percentile for the P/E ratio is closest to:
A. 1.322.
B. 1.360.
C. 1.391.
23. For a random sample of 200 small-cap U.S. stocks, the average dividend yield is
1.56% and the sample has a standard deviation of 0.40.
The 99% confidence interval for the population mean of all small-cap U.S. stocks
based on the standard normal distribution will be closest to:
A. 1.487% to 1.633%.
B. 1.504% to 1.615%.
C. 1.513% to 1.606%.
24. A stated annual interest rate is the:
A. quoted interest rate that does not account for compounding within the
year.
B. amount by which a unit of currency will grow in a year with interest on
interest included.
C. quoted interest rate per period that equals the periodic rate divided by the
number of compounding periods per year.
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25.
26. Ronald Gibson is a statistical expert that works for an equity management firm.
Gibson believes that the normal distribution describes most common stock
returns, at least in the long-run. Under this assumption, Gibson is estimating the
probability that an emerging market equity portfolios return would exceed 22%.
The portfolio mean return is 14% and the standard deviation of returns is 26% per
year. Gibson is using the following excerpt from the table of normal probabilities
to help him with his calculation.
x or z
0.01
0.02
0.20
0.5793
0.5823
0.5871
0.30
0.40
0.6179
0.6554
0.6217
0.6591
0.6255
0.6628
12
28.
Edward Burger is meeting with his portfolio manager for the regular, annual
performance review of his portfolio. The portfolio manager has recommended
Burger to cash out of a few investments that he considers are not adding value to
his overall wealth. Burger is presented with the following information about these
investments:
Investment
A
B
C
Recent Annual
Sharpe Ratio
-0.23
-1.56
-2.01
Given that Burger wants to cash out of only one investment for the time being, he
selects Investment C.
Burgers decision regarding investment C is most likely:
A. appropriate.
B. inappropriate, because a shorter evaluation period should be used.
C. inappropriate, because a different evaluation metric should be used.
29. Peter Brook has shortlisted three investments to add to his $10,000 equity
portfolio. Brook needs to pay the first installment on his house in a years time
and needs the portfolio to generate enough cash to be able to do so. The table
below reveals certain performance measures for the portfolio after adding each of
the three investments.
Investment
Sharpe Ratio
Target Semi-Deviation
2.3
17%
4.6
23%
3.5
11%
Which of the above investments should Brook most likely invest in?
A. Investment A.
B. Investment B.
C. Investment C.
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30.
Kurtosis
Skewness
4.5
-0.5693
2.1
0.7955
Which of the above investments will be most suitable for Kings client?
A. Company A.
B. Company B.
C. Company C.
31. In candlestick charts, doji is a pattern where the stock opened:
A. and closed at the same price.
B. at its low and closed near its high.
C. at its high and dropped significantly to close near its low.
32. Bob Harper, a hedge fund manager, lists all the major hedge funds operating in
the industry and categorizes them into different styles. He then assigns a number
to each investment style.
Which of the following measures of central tendency would be most appropriate
for the data Harper is analyzing?
A. Mean.
B. Mode.
C. Median.
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15
37.
Which of the following will least likely shift an economys short-run average
supply leftward but will have no effect on the long-run average supply?
A. A decrease in input prices.
B. An increase in human capital.
C. A decrease in the expectation of future prices.
38. Alex Gerald is examining his budget constraint given his current income and
expenditures. Gerald has a total budget of $125 per week to spend on milk or
juices. The price of milk is $3.5/litre and the price of juice is 2.5/litre.
If the quantity of milk is measured on the horizontal axis of the budget constraint,
the slope of the budget constraint would be closest to:
A. -0.71.
B. -0.95.
C. -1.40.
39. Diseconomies of scale lead to higher average total:
A. cost.
B. profit.
C. revenue.
40. A consumer buys both ice cream and cake each week for dessert. The price of ice
cream is $1.25 per scoop and the price of cake is $1.55 per piece. The consumers
marginal rate of substitution, MRSIC, equals 0.66.
To maximize utility, the consumer should most likely:
A. not change her consumption.
B. increase her consumption of cake and decrease her consumption of icecream.
C. decrease her consumption of ice-cream and increase her consumption of
cake.
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41.
Rosy Diaz is a research analyst that follows the Russian automobile industry. As
part of the industrys competitive analysis, Diaz determined that at a range of
output levels, size does not give a firm a competitive edge. However, over and
above those levels, the larger the business, the greater its potential investment
value.
Given the structure of the Russian automobile industry, the industrys:
A. long-run supply curve has either a zero slope or a decreasing slope.
B. short-run supply curve is downward sloping over a particular range of
output.
C. long-run supply curve is U-shaped, with the slope decreasing over a range
of output.
42. Which of the following asset categories price will most likely exhibit substantial
price increases when the economy is in boom phase?
A. Riskiest assets.
B. Government Bonds.
C. Shares of exporting companies.
43. Helen Oswald, a portfolio manager, is assessing the effect of a recent increase in
one of her clients salary on her consumption patterns. Oswald had constructed a
production opportunity frontier with spending on designer dress shirts on the
vertical axis and t-shirts on the horizontal axis.
Given the change in circumstances, the clients production opportunity frontier
would most likely:
A. shift upward, and the optimal indifference curve would shift rightward.
B. shift upward, and the optimal indifference curve would remain unchanged.
C. remain unchanged, and the optimal indifference curve would shift
leftward.
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44.
During his research Ross Katz, an economist, reviews the GDP data for the
European economy for the year ended 2005. The following exhibit is an excerpt
from the table provided by the Department of Finance in Europe.
Exhibit
GDP Release for the European economy
(in millions of euros)
Consumer spending
550,000
Government spending
190,678
Government gross fixed investment
30,000
Business gross fixed investment
145,300
Exports
320,666
Imports
312,865
Change in inventories
15,500
Statistical discrepancy
500
Interest income
77,500
Using the expenditure approach, nominal GDP for the European economy is
closest to:
A. 939,779 billion.
B. 1,001,779 billion.
C. 1,1017,279 billion.
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19
50.
51.
All Star Products (ASP) reported net income of $2,750,000 for the year ended
December 31, 2010. During the same year the company had an average of
1,050,000 shares of common stock outstanding. In addition to common stock,
ASP also had 50,000 of convertible preferred stock, with each convertible into ten
shares of the firms common stock. The firm pays a preferred dividend of
$15/share and a common dividend of $20.
ASPs diluted EPS is closest to:
A. $1.77.
B. $1.29.
C. $1.90.
20
52.
450,000
Depreciation
38,000
3,250
31/12/2014 31/12/2015
Change
42,000
63,000
+ 21,000
Inventory
18,500
10,000
- 8,500
Accounts payable
29,500
51,330
+ 21,830
55,550
40,000
- 15,550
21
53.
2011
Leverage
1.80
2.50
2.0
2.3
Tax burden
0.50
0.70
Interest burden
0.60
0.90
5.13%
7.29%
EBIT Margin
Which of the following least describes one of the conclusions given her compiled
data?
A. The major contributor to the increase in the firms return on assets was the
rise in net profit margin.
B. The firms return on equity increased by 20.87% in 2011, mostly because
of an increase in leverage.
C. The firms interest costs decreased more than the decrease in its tax costs
during the 2010-2011 financial period.
54. An overview of specific business lines and the segmentation of income are most
likely found in the:
A. statement of operations.
B. supplementary schedule.
C. management commentary .
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55.
$89,250
$45,000
$22,000
$15,500
$12,000
If the firm follows US GAAP, the interest coverage ratio is closest to:
A. 2.47.
B. 2.62.
C. 3.47.
56. A portfolio manager has accumulated the following data to carry out a
comparative analysis of firms within the U.S. automobile industry.
Exhibit
SOP Auto Manufacturers Financial Information
Net Income
$25,000,000
Weighted average common shares
150,000,000
Beginning of year stock options
75,000
outstanding
Exercise price of stock options
$45
Market price of companys stock
$65
Stock option price
$11.55
Using the treasury stock method, the diluted EPS for SOP Auto Manufacturers is
closest to:
A. $0.167.
B. $0.159.
C. $1.220.
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57.
A company engages in the dealing and trading of financial assets that are highly
liquid. Such purchase and sale is not part of the companys primary business
activity.
In the cash flow statement the above activities would appear as:
A. Investing activities.
B. Operating activities.
C. Financing activities.
58. If a firms price to book value ratio is one, the equity investors in the firm will
most likely earn:
A. a normal profit only.
B. excess profits since the ratio is positive.
C. zero profits as return would not exceed risk.
59. The head of a firms sales and marketing department is attempting to determine
the appropriate method of reporting revenue under a long-term contractual sale.
Due to the nature of the counterparty involved, the outcome of the contract cannot
be measured reliably and a 30% loss on the contract is expected.
Given the above information, under U.S. GAAP, the:
A. percentage of completion method will be used to recognize the loss
immediately.
B. completed contract method will be used but the loss will be recognized
immediately.
C. loss will be recognized upon completion when revenue is recognized,
unlike IFRS, which will require the loss to be recognized immediately.
60. When the income tax expense in the income statement is greater than current
income tax liability, the difference will most likely increase a firms:
A. taxable income.
B. deferred tax assets.
C. deferred tax liabilities.
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61.
62. For a particular firm, holding everything constant and assuming rising prices, the
inventory turnover will be lowest under the:
A. FIFO method of inventory accounting.
B. LIFO method of inventory accounting.
C. average method of inventory accounting.
63. Superior Tech Limited (S-Tech) has a contract to develop a marketing campaign
for a newly established firm. The agreed upon sales price is $15 million and STech estimates that it would take 4 years to get the job done. Total costs are
estimated to be $9 million. Details about the expenditures incurred in years 1 and
2 are given below:
At the end of year 1, S-Tech spends $4 million.
At the end of year 2, the company spends an additional $3.5 million.
Under the percentage-of-completion method, how much revenue will S-Tech
recognize in year 2?
A. $5,833,333.
B. $6,666,667.
C. $12,500,000.
64. Compared to U.S. GAAP, under IFRS interest received or paid can be reported
either as an:
A. investing activity or operating activity.
B. financing activity or investing activity.
C. operating, investing or financing activity.
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65.
For an issuing company, interest expense reported for the bonds in its financial
statements is based on the:
A. coupon rate.
B. effective interest rate.
C. market rate of interest.
$70,000
$50,000
$180,000
$45,000
$66,000
26
68.
27
Which of the following about financial leverage and unit sales is most accurate?
The farther unit sales are from the break-even points for high leverage companies,
the:
A. magnifying effect becomes unpredictable.
B. lower the magnifying effect of this leverage.
C. greater the magnifying effect of this leverage.
70.
Ryan Myers, a financial analyst, has been appointed the task of developing a
valuation estimate for Colors Fashion Label (CFL), a private, U.S. based firm
operating in the fashion industry of the country. Myers gathered the following
information to aid his analysis:
The long-term yield on U.S. government bonds is 3.5%.
The historical equity risk premium in the U.S. is 5.6%.
A comparable firm has a beta of 1.35, a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20,
and a tax rate of 40%.
CFLs tax rate is 33%.
CFLs Debt/Equity ratio is 0.75.
Given the aforementioned information, Myers estimate of CFLs cost of equity
should be closest to:
A. 7.896%.
B. 9.874%.
C. 10.105%.
71.
Breakeven point analysis will be least important for a company with a high ratio
of:
A. debt to total assets and low business cycle sensitivity.
B. intangible assets to total assets and high operating income.
C. tangible assets to total assets and low business cycle sensitivity.
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72.
75. In the face of bankruptcy, the companies least likely to emerge as ongoing
concerns are the ones with high degree of:
A. financial leverage.
B. operating leverage.
C. financial leverage and a low degree of operating leverage.
76.
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30
80.
Cary Lee just received a performance-based bonus from her employer and desires
to invest that in real estate. Her current portfolio is invested in stocks and bonds
only.
If Lee wants to achieve maximum diversification, she should most likely invest in:
A. Direct real estate.
B. Real estate investment trusts (REITs).
C. Shares of companies that own and operate real estate.
81.
Anthony Francisco just received $10,000 as inheritance from his uncle who
passed away last month. Consequently, Francisco advises his portfolio manager to
increase his portfolios allocation to domestic stocks from 15% to 25%. The
manager determines that the most appropriate holding period for Francisco is ten
years. He thus invests in non-dividend paying stocks that would yield the required
return over ten years.
Given the information above, Francisco is most likely an:
A. Investor.
B. Speculator.
C. Information-motivated trader.
82.
83. A firm has just paid a dividend of $2.5 per share. The required rate of return is
15% per year and dividends are expected to grow at a constant rate of 9.4%. If an
analyst uses Gordon Growth model to calculate the firms intrinsic value, how
much does the dividend growth assumption add to the intrinsic value estimate?
A. $22.24
B. $32.17
C. $48.84
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84.
85.
Matt Elaine has developed software that enables him to determine the correlation
between economic variables and stock returns. Elaine believes that abnormal
returns could be generated using his investing approach.
Which of the following characteristics of the financial system would least likely
aid Elaine in achieving his objective?
A. Market liquidity.
B. Low cost trading.
C. Transparent financial and economic disclosures.
86.
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88.
The price of a large-cap index at the beginning of the period is $1,250 while the
dividends paid to investors amounts to $400. If the total return on the index is
15.00%, the price of the index at the end of the period is equal to:
A. $1,037.50.
B. $1,062.50.
C. $1,437.50.
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91. Compared to underlying spot markets, derivatives markets offer which of the
following operational advantages?
A. Lower transaction costs.
B. Greater liquidity and easy short selling opportunities.
C. Lower transaction costs, greater liquidity, and easy short selling
opportunities.
92.
Steve Hammond is the CEO of a U.S. based company in the oil exploration
business. Hammond is concerned with falling oil prices in the near future.
Specifically, he wants to hedge the risk of the companys oil production of a
million liters expected in 234 days from now. He wants to ensure near perfect
hedging with minimal investment.
The most appropriate way to hedge the companys exposure is to use:
A. Futures.
B. Options.
C. Forwards.
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93.
94. The higher the exercise price of a call option, the greater the:
A. price of an option.
B. opportunity to gain on the upside.
C. premium received by the seller of the call.
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Maturity
Bond A
5.5%
4 years
Bond B
6.5%
3 years
Bond C
5.0%
3 years
Which of the above bonds will have lowest interest rate risk?
A. Bond A.
B. Bond B.
C. Bond C.
36
97.
An analyst is trying to estimate the implied forward rates as inputs to his bond
valuation process. For this purpose, she gathers the data provided in the following
exhibit.
Exhibit
Zero Coupon Government Bonds
Yield to
Maturity
Price
Maturity
2 year
98.77
3.556%
3 year
96.87
3.786%
4 year
93.11
3.980%
*The yields to maturity are stated on a semiannual bond basis
The 2y1y implied forward rate would be closest to:
A. 4.25%.
B. 4.56%.
C. 4.16%.
98. For bonds with the same time-to-maturity and yield-to-maturity, Macaulay
duration is the lowest for a:
A. zero coupon bond.
B. low coupon bond trading at a discount.
C. high coupon bond trading at a premium.
Similarly a low-coupon bond trading at a discount has a higher duration than a
high coupon bond trading at a premium.
99.
37
100. For a fully amortized bond, the annual payment, which includes both the coupon
payment and the principal repayment:
A. remains constant.
B. decreases at constant rate.
C. decreases at decreasing rate.
101. A 7% annual coupon bond is trading at a price of 105.67 and has three years to
maturity. A 5.5% annual payment, 3-year T-note is trading at a price of 107.89. A
5-year 7% annual coupon T-note is trading at a price of 109.77.
Given the above information, the G-spread will be closest to:
A. 0.16%.
B. 1.32%.
C. 2.19%.
102. A dealer believes that the bonds issued by Super-Tee Enterprises (SUTEE) are
considerably overvalued and wants to benefit from the mispricing. For achieving
this objective, the dealer borrows 100 par value bonds of SUTEE from an
institutional investor and lends cash in return. The bonds have a stated coupon
rate of 7.5%.
The above transaction will best be known as a:
A. repurchase agreement, and the coupon will belong to the seller of the
security.
B. reverse repurchase agreement, and the coupon will belong to the borrower
of the security.
C. reverse repurchase agreement, and the coupon will belong to the borrower
of cash.
38
103. Tony Sam has invested in a floating rate bond based on Libor. Due to changing
market conditions, Sam is particularly concerned with his investment value
deviating from par value.
Sams concern is most likely:
A. justified.
B. exaggerated, since floating rate securities have little market risk.
C. exaggerated, since floating rate securities have little interest rate risk.
104. An analyst is attempting to determine the value of a four-year, 8% annual couponpaying bond with a par value of 100. The exhibit below summarizes the sequence
of spot rates which will be used to value the issue.
Time-to-Maturity
1 year
1.25
2 years
1.80
3 years
2.45
4 years
3.00
39
Money Market
Instrument
A
B
Exhibit
Quotation
Basis
Discount Rate
Add-on Rate
Quoted
Rate
6.78%
7.02%
Assuming that the credit risks of the instruments are comparable, the instrument
that offers a higher expected rate of return is:
A. A.
B. B.
C. neither, since they both offer almost equivalent returns.
106. Sean Lee has just started work at D&L Dealers Association (DLD), a U.S. based
firm that specializes in dealing in stocks and bonds. During a meeting with one of
the firms colleagues, Lee posed the following question:
I am not sure how the lender of cash in a repurchase agreement would account
for the credit risk of the counterparty and make sure it has a margin of safety?
The best response to Lees question is that the:
A. repo rate will account for this concern.
B. repo margin will account for this concern.
C. collaterals value will account for this concern.
40
41
42
Percentage Invested
60%
25%
15%
43
117. Which of the following statements is most likely correct regarding the
mathematically derived metrics.
A. Gamma is considered a second order risk because it reflects the risk of
changes in vega.
B. The sensitivity to changes in the volatility of the underlying is reflected in
a measure called rho.
C. Delta captures only small changes in the value of the underlying whereas
large changes are captured by gamma.
118. Which of the following investments is likely to have a negative beta?
A. A risk-free asset.
B. An insurance policy.
C. An asset with returns that have insignificant sensitivity to the market
return.
119. Carlos Long, a financial analyst, is meeting with Tony John, one of his private
wealth clients. During the meeting John stated that he expects return of 15% from
his portfolio. Long estimated that the market portfolio has an expected return of
25% and a standard deviation of 37%. The risk-free rate is 5.0%.
If Long uses the capital allocation line as a benchmark, Johns portfolio will have
a standard deviation closest to:
A. 18.5%.
B. 27.0%.
C. 37.0%.
120. An investor with a risk aversion coefficient of 4 is analyzing an investment with
an expected return of 12% and a risk of 15%.
If the risk-free asset has a return of 5.0%, the investor will most likely prefer:
A. the risk-free asset.
B. the risky investment.
C. either the risk-free asset or the risky investment.
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