Financial Theories and Strategies Introduction Financial theories are the building blocks of today's corporate world. "The basic building blocks of finance theory lay the foundation for many modern tools used in areas such asset pricing and investment. Many of these theoretical concepts such as general equilibrium analysis, information economics and theory of contracts are firmly rooted in classical Microeconomics" (Oaktree, 2005) This paper will define and discuss five financial theories and how they impact business decisions made by financial managers. The theories will be the Modern Portfolio Theory, Tobin Separation Theorem, Equilibrium Theory, Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT), and the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) The Modern portfolio theory {MPT}, "proposes how rational investors will use diversification to optimize their portfolios, and how an asset should be priced given its risk relative to the market as a whole. The basic concepts of the theory are the efficient frontier, Capital Asset Pricing Model and beta coefficient, the Capital Market Line and the Securities Market Line. MPT models the return of an asset as a random variable and a portfolio as a weighted combination of assets; the return of a portfolio is thus also a random variable and consequently has an expected value and a variance. Risk in this model is identified with the standard deviation of portfolio return. Rationality is modeled by supposing that an investor choosing between several portfolios with identical expected returns will prefer that portfolio which minimizes risk." (Wikipedia, 2005) Figure 1 and Figure 2 are examples on how this theory can be illustrated on a graph. Using the Modern Portfolio Theory, overtime risk assets will provide a higher expected rate of return, as compensation to the investors for accepting a high risk. The high risk will eventually lower collecting asset classes to the portfolio, thus reducing the volatile risk, and increasing the expected rates of return. Furthermore the purpose of this theory is to develop the most optimal investments portfolio which would yield the highest rate of return while ascertaining the risk for the individual or corporate investor. This theory impacts global and domestic financial managers by basing their portfolio using capital market line, capital asset pricing, and securities as a foundation for investments. When used, the MPT establishes investment portfolios, which are used by companies such as Fidelity or Scott Trade for both long-term and short-term strategies. Fig 1 Fig 2 Tobin Separation Theorem "James Tobin ...
Investing in stocks involves owning part of a company’s equity which effectively enables the shareholder to receive a portion of the company’s earnings and assets in form of dividends. Stocks are generally categorized as either common stocks or preferred stocks whereby common stock allow investors to vote on key issues but do not guarantee of dividends (Markowitz 78). Preferred stocks on the other hand do not provide voting rights but assure stockholders of dividend payments. Investing in stocks offers investors comparatively high returns relative to treasury securities but the investments also have high inherent risk. Stocks are purchased through licensed stockbrokers who range from the discounted order-taking online brokers, to the pricey full-service brokers and money managers (Sourd 112). Despite the type of broker an investor opts for, the stock market has the potential to generate high returns through an investment strategy. One of the main strategies employed is diversification which involves the purchasing of different stocks with varied performance and rates of returns in order to spread out the risk of the individuals stocks across a portfolio. Investing in stocks is therefore one of the most profitable alternatives of personal financial planning, and should be considered as one of the investment vehicles that generates an additional income stream.
Dimensional's value strategies are based on the Fama/French research in multifactor portfolios designed to capture the return premiums associated with high book-to-market (BtM) ratios.
...r investments that can support the other weight and balance their portfolio and therefore alleviate some of the risk they face.
Considering the importance of this, Yale’s investment Committee reviewed its portfolio at least once a year. In order to decide the target allocation, the organization performed a mean-variance analysis of the expected returns and risks and compared them with those of past Yale allocations and the current mean allocation of other universities. Moreover, the organization also examined the long-run implications of its allocation for the downside risk to the
1. Momentum: Narasimhan Jegadeesh and Sheridan Titman; October 23, 2001 2. From Efficient Market Theory to Behavioral Finance: Robert J. Shiller, Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper No. 1385; October, 2002 3. Behavioral Finance: Robert J. Bloomfield, Johnson School Research Paper Series #38-06; October, 2006 4. Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work: Eugene F. Fama, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 25, No. 2, May, 1970 5. Naive Diversification Strategies in Defined Contribution Saving Plans: Shlomo Benartzi and Richard H. Thaler, The American Economic Review; March, 2001 6. Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, Econometrica, Vol. 47, No. 2. ; March 1979
Brealey, Richard A., and Myers, Stewart C. Principles of Corporate Finance. Sixth ed. McGraw Hill, New York, © 2000.
The efficient market, as one of the pillars of neoclassical finance, asserts that financial markets are efficient on information. The efficient market hypothesis suggests that there is no trading system based on currently available information that could be expected to generate excess risk-adjusted returns consistently as this information is already reflected in current prices. However, EMH has been the most controversial subject of research in the fields of financial economics during the last 40 years. “Behavioural finance, however, is now seriously challenging this premise by arguing that people are clearly not rational” (Ross, (2002)). Behavioral finance uses facts from psychology and other human sciences in order to explain human investors’ behaviors.
The economic rationality assumption has given an important connation for the market efficiency, as it has been the base to carry out the construction of the modern knowledge in standard finance. Resulting in the development of the most important insights in finance, such as arbitrage pricing theory of Miller and Modigliani, the Markowitz portfolio optimization, the capital asset pricing theory of Sharp, Lintner and Sharp and the option-pricing model of Black, Scholes and Merton (Pompian, 2006 and Lo, 2005). At this stage, these advances provide a sophisticated mathematical approach to explain what happen in real life. As a result, of these advances, individuals who trade stocks and bonds use these theories under the assumption that the assets they are investing in have similar value to the prices they are paying. This way, according to the market efficiency, current prices reflect all relevant information so trading stocks in an attempt to exceed the benchmark or to produce returns above average will not be possible without taking risk above the average since with arbitrage would make go back prices to their real or fundamental value (Malkiel, 2003).
To maximize optimum performance of our investment portfolio, we placed a certain percentage of equity in different sectors of the stock market.
What do you understand by the phrase “stakeholder analysis”? Attempt a stakeholder analysis of an organisation that you are closely associated with.
The second type of portfolio objective is an Income portfolio. The type of investor that would be fit for this type of portfolio objective will have a risk tolerance of conservative to moderately conservativ...
The CAPM first began in 1952 by Harry Markowitz and his paper rigorously described the aspect of portfolio risks. A portfolio risk is when a stockholder or an investor invests in so many assets so that the rate of a risky turnover is spread amongst the assets to reduce the percentage of loss returned on the assets. For example, Mr. A buys 10 different assets from different companies so that if asset A from Alek corporations fail, Mr. A can still get returns from the 9 other assets, hence his risk and loss has been shared amongst his invested assets.
This paper will discuss the role of the financial manager and how that particular role, in the area of corporate expertise, differs from that of the shareholder and of the employee. The discussion the paper provides will help determine how the financial manager maximizes shareholder value in today's financial market. Lastly, the viewpoint of the financial manager will be compared to that of the shareholder and employee.
Block, S. B., & Hirt, G. A. (2005). Foundations of financial management. (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Our understanding and the concept of investment in behavioural finance combines economics and psychology to analyse how and why investors make final decision. As an investor one’s decision to invest is fully influence by different type of attitudes of behavioural and psychological ( Ricciardi & Simon, 2000). Yet, in order to maximize their financial goal, investors must have a good investment planning. Furthermore , to gain a good investment planning , there must be a good decision making among investors. They have to choose the right investment plan I order to manage the resources for different type of investments not only to gain profit wise but also to avoid the risk that occur from investment.