Table of Contents Part A.........................................................................................................................................3 Question 1..................................................................................................................................3 Negative externalities and systematic risk.............................................................................3 Reduction of risk in banking system......................................................................................3 Deposit protection..................................................................................................................4 Payday loans...........................................................................................................................4 Behaviour of financial firms and their employees.................................................................5 Question 2..................................................................................................................................5 Characteristics of Auto-enrolment pension............................................................................5 Defined contribution pension scheme and defined benefit scheme.......................................5 Computation of present real value of retirement fund...........................................................6 Advantages and disadvantages of opting out of auto-enrolment scheme..............................6 Draw down of retirement fund or purchasing annuity...........................................................6 Part B..........................................................................................................................................8 Question 3..................................................................................................................................8 Introduction................................................................................................................................8 Investment strategy for adventurous investor............................................................................8 Advantages and disadvantages of putting money in two or three securities rather than one security.....................................................................................................................................10 Assessment of changes in allocation in case Billie become less adventurous and more concerned with the preserving capital......................................................................................12 Conclusion................................................................................................................................13 2
Part A Question 1 Negative externalities and systematic risk Negative externalities refers the cost of financial transaction which has to be borne by the third party. The main reason behind the negative externalities is the production or the utilization of the resources for a good reason by one party, but the cost is paid by other party. In the business, producers are the first and consumers are the second parties and any individual, property owner, company, and resources are the third parties those have to suffer. Systemic risk is a possible risk that occurs at the business and can cause severe volatility in the business and in the economy. If the company considers the systematic risk, then there is less probability of the failure.Businesses that are highly unified with others are also a cause of systemic risk as this form of risk is connected with the whole economy. It is used by the federal government as a reason to interfere in the financial system. The source for this interference is the faith that the administration can decrease or reduce the ripple effect from a company-level event throughout the targeted system and proceedings Reduction of risk in the banking system A regulatory capital or capital adequacy is an amount of capital that is required to be reserved by financial institutions or banks because it is obligated by the financial regulators. Such requisites are fulfilled to assure that such organizations do not obtain on surplus leverage and turn out to be as insolvent. Capital supplies preside over the ratio of equity to debt, documented on the liabilities and equity side of a company’s balance sheet. They must not be puzzled withreserve necessities, which preside over the assets side of a bank's balance sheet especially; the number of its assets which are required to be held in highly-liquid assets or cash.A major part of bank regulation is to assure that firms working in the business are carefully supervised. Themajor objective is to defend the firms themselves, their clientele, the administration and the financial system by originating system to assure thatthose organizations do have enough capital to confirm continuance of a secure and well-organized market and capable of enduring any predictable troubles. 3
Deposit protection Moral hazard is a condition, where the cost of mistake of borne by another party. It occurs when both the parties don’t have complete knowledge of each other. In the economic market, there is a threat that borrower is involved with the actions that are questionable according to lenders as they create the situation in which they are less interested in returning the due amount ofloan. It happens when the borrower has knowledge that somebody else will pay back for their mistakes. This in return provides them with the rewards or incentives to perform operations in a riskier manner. Such financial approach is moral hazard. Payday loans Payday loans are the form of short term borrowing, where the financer will impose the charges in terms of interest. On the payday loans, the high-interest rate is charged, therefore in the United States, the government fixed the maximum limit on the interest rate and total charges that can be charged by the financer. However, the financial regulator noticed that in the other form of short term credit, the lender charges a higher interest rate and some other charges. It leads to the major problem for the financial regulator and providers. The government should make the specific norms for the payday loan as well as short term credit. A payday loan is similar to the cash advances. However the short term credits are generally provided one year. Therefore on the basis of duration of advance, the government should prescribe the interest rate on the borrowing. The behaviour of financial firms and their employees Financial institutions and other employees will behave in the regulated ways even in the situation where external regulators are not present because they have well designed formal government processes which help them to secure the good regulatory results. Apart from this other regulatory initiatives gives a great priority to the present culture, customers and the market.Moreover,financialconductauthority’splansdemonstratethecultureofthe company, its governance which is essential to develop a trust in public and confidence in the strategies and services of the company. To survive successfully in a competitive environment, boards build a strong cultural leadership and take liability for setting up and controlling the precise culture. Hence strong cultural leadership lower down the threat of poor outcomes and employees will behave in a regulated manner. 4
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Question 2 Characteristics of Auto-enrolment pension Under the Auto-enrolment scheme, it is the duty of the employer to enrol their eligible employees in the pension scheme. In the above specified scheme, along with the employer, the employee also makes the contribution in a pension scheme. Auto-enrolment scheme is a government initiative, which assists in more savings of the employee. There are several benefits provided to the employee complementary in addition to the auto-enrolment scheme. Further, the employee also motivated to adopt this scheme as in this employer also made a contribution. All the features increase the scale of saving into a pension. Defined contribution pension scheme and defined benefit scheme Defined contribution scheme is the job-related pension scheme. In this scheme, the employer, as well as the employee of the company, makes the contribution, and the proceeds are provided to employees at the time of retirement. On the other hand, under the defined benefit scheme, only the employer made the contribution and assured the specified amount at the retirement. The main difference in both the plans is related to the investment risk. In the defined contribution plan, both employer and employee bear the risk; however in a defined benefit scheme, only the employer bears the investment risk (Sialm, Starks, and Zhang, 2015). Computation of present real value of retirement fund Contribution by Sally (after Tax) =£77 Contribution by employer = £57.75 Total Contribution = £134.75 Interest rate = 5.5% Inflation Rate = 3.5% Real value of retirement fund =£32482.19 If the inflation rate = 4% Then, real value of retirement fund =£29214.57 Due to the rise in inflation rate, the value of retirement benefit reduced. 5
Advantages and disadvantages of opting out of the auto-enrolment scheme The opting out of auto-enrolment scheme leads to an increase in the gross pay of sally. On the other hand, if sally opt-out from this scheme, then tax benefit on the contribution made in the pension scheme can not avail by her. Drawdown of a retirement fund or purchasing annuity The rise in annuity cost It is probable that, risk in the annuity cost influence Sally to select the drawdown option. In this approach, she can switch her stable portfolio to a profit-making bond portfolio Since Sally wants to keep amount invested without any withdrawals then there is a high probability of an increase in value in drawdown option. Therefore, a sharp rise in annuity cost will not be beneficial for Sally so she may select the drawdown plan. The risk in drawdown In the drawdown, the person keeps funds invested and obtain the annual income. As compared with the annuity, it is much riskier. As in this, it is probable that pension pot may fall. Therefore those associated with drawdown will also face the problem. Another, risk associated with the drawdown is the risk of longevity because in this there is no lifetime guarantee and there is probability to exhaust benefit at the time of retirement. Therefore, sally for mitigating these risks can opt for the annuity plan, despite the high annuity cost. 6
Part B Question 3 Introduction By considering the declining trend of the interest rate at their historic low of 0.5% for the past six years, it is better to invest in the stock market to attain better return from available funds. Adventurous customers are very intrepid of nature as they are eager to grasp the ups and downs of the international stock market in order to boost their long term returns. The connection between risk and return cannot be perfectly predicted, however, it has been assessed that the correlation between risk and return does exit. In case an investor wants to attain higher returns, they have to be willing to accept a higher rate of risk. This is the nature of an adventurous investor. Though, its main emphasis should be made on taking the right risk. For instance: holding all cash portfolio could be riskier in case cash is being eroded by inflation. Present essay emphasizes on investment strategies for Billie, who is an adventurous investor. Further, the advantages and disadvantages of investing in more than one fund rather than in just one security have been discussed. Lastly, the manner in which strategy changes the case to the adventurous investor is more concerned with preserving capital build by the investor. The investment strategy for an adventurous investor Active strategy is most appropriate for the investors who attempt to move up to the efficient frontier in order to take more risk for attaining more reward. In the present case, as Billie is interested in taking a higher rate of risk for higher return, the active strategy will be most appropriate in order to develop the portfolio for investment. The investment will be assessed on the basis of return and risk related with the same. The type of risks which are assessed while taking investment decision are capital risk and liquidity risk. Capital risk is referred as the risk of attaining more or less than expected amount and liquidity risk is not attaining returns when expected, i.e. risk related of being unable to cash an investment rapidly enough as they fall due in order to take advantage of better investment opportunities. The securities from which selection will be made for construing portfolio of Billie are as follows: 7
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Table1: Table representing net return of existing securities Name of Securities UK all companies Money Market Global Bonds UK company tracker UK gilts Global Growth Mean annual return8.50.164.52.31217.5 Annual Charge0.80.20.250.40.51.5 Ongoing Charge0.90.30.250.30.62.1 Net Return6.8-0.3441.610.913.9 Beta0.91.11.31.11.51.2 Standard Deviation9.50.083.99.512.912 Sharpe Ratio0.9-5.51.30.61.11.1 R-squared7516.584919585 As Billie is interested in investing in the maximum of three securities, investment will be made in securities having a higher rate of return as she is willing to take the maximum risk. In order to ascertain the securities are having highest return, annual charge, as well as ongoing charge, will be reduced from the mean annual return as cost relating to securities is also be considered before calculating return attained from securities. Thus, the securities which are providing highest returns are Global Growth, UK gilts and UK all companies. All the three securities have a higher return in comparison to other securities available for investing, i.e. money market, global bonds and UK company tracker. The beta of security represents systematic risk relating to security. A security which has less than 1.0 beta represent that it is less volatile in comparison to the market. It means that the portfolio is less risky in case the specified stock is included in the portfolio. Thus, in present case UK Gilts is 9
having highest beta 1.5 which represent that is more volatile in comparison to other securities but as Billie is ready to borne risk in order to attain higher return. R – Squared is referred to as a statistical measure which represents the extent to which the data are fitted to regression line which is also known as the coefficient of determination. A lower percentage of R- squared regression line represent that less variability of response data is around its mean. On the contrary, higher R-squared percentile represents the variability of response data around its mean. Thus, in above-specified securities in which investment has been made is having higher percentile which represent that the all the variability of response data is around its mean, i.e. the model fits the existing data. The portfolio of Billie as an adventurous investor will be construed after assessing the return as well as the allocation of the specified securities. The same is as follows: Table2: Portfolio of Billie as an adventurous investor ready to take a high risk against huge returns Security NameAllocationin Cash Allocationin Equity Allocationin Bond %of Investment by Billie UKall Companies 395240% UK Gilts309710% Global Growth298050% Note: Investment has been made in higher proportions in the securities which allocate their sources in equities in a significant manner. Advantages and disadvantages of putting money in two or three securities rather than one security Advantages Reduction in Loss: The main advantage of investing in two or more securities rather than one security is reducing the loss to a significant extent which is resulting from investing in one security or asset. In other words, it can be said that risk relating to loss of cold weather can be decreased from diversification by investing in a combination of more than one security which is unlikely to move in the same direction at a same time.Investor applies statistic in order to 10
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develop a combination of shares which are most appropriate for diversification. In statistics when shares are closely associated with each other regarding prices, as they move in the same manner over time is believed to have a strong correlation. On the contrary, in case they move in a different manner than the same is referred to as weak correlation. This correlation assist is constructing a diversified portfolio. Thus, it can be concluded that investor can improve the balance between risk and return to a significant extent through diversification. Choices of Asset Another advantage is that investor can make its own choice to spread out investment in different securities which comprises stocks and bonds, commodities etc. It is a fact that each security (asset) has its own quality and strengths and the profitability of the same depends on market supply and demand. Thus, a good mix could assist in the development of a stable portfolio. Lower Maintenance Every investment requires appropriate attention in order to keep them performed well. In the present case, as Billie is seeking higher returns and ready to take risky ventures than it will require investing significant amount assessing markets and dodging financial bullets. Thus, as a diversified portfolio is less exciting and more stable. Thus, through investing in more securitiesanappropriateportfoliocanbedevelopedwhichrequireslessmaintenance comparatively. Disadvantages Missed Windfalls The disadvantage of being borne by the investor in case of a diversified portfolio (investment in more than one security) is facing issues in making a huge profit from specific industry to others. The fact cannot be denied that diversification protects an investor from fluctuation, but it also restricts the stock capability to enhance to a certain limit. The reason behind the same is that investment is made in various companies. Investment is done in stock with the aim of high risk with higher gain or vice –versa. But as an investment is made in more than one security gains as well as losses are bifurcated in the no. of securities in which investment has been made. Spread too thinly 11
In case the market declines as a whole than it is possible that all the securities of the portfolio will face trouble and investor might assess that the loss is spread too thinly. As an investor in making an effort to protect from a massive financial exposure and the same could have missed out on big profit. It can be concluded that as the portfolio is widely diversified, the extent of relative risk is increased that some part of the portfolio will decline at any point in time. Income at a slow rate Assessment of changes in allocation in case Billie become less adventurous and more concerned with the preserving capital The risk-return spectrum which is developed through investing in appropriate investment is dependent on the attitude of the customer towards risk. In the present situation as Billie is more concerned towards the capital which has been developed by her; investment will be made in risk-free or less risky securities to the maximum extent. Standard deviation is measured by investors in order to assess the amount of expected volatility. The low standard deviation represents less risk relating to individual stocks as well as that the data points are closer to the expected range of values. The investment will be made after assessing the risk level (beta and standard deviation) as well the analysing the manner of allocation of assets by the specified securities. Thus as the return of security (UK Gilts) is appropriate and it also invest in Bonds to the maximum extent which is a risk-free asset; a major part of the investment will be made in same. Further, if the net return of Global Bonds is assessed with Beta and Standard variation than it can be concluded that it is appropriate to bear volatility for the specified quantum of return. Moreover, as the security invests a major part of its sources in Bonds, i.e. 95 %; it matches with the attitude to risk accepted by Billie too. Thus, change in the earlier construed portfolio will be made in the following manner: Table3: Recon structured Portfolio of Billie Security NameAllocationin Cash Allocationin Equity Allocationin Bond %of Investment by Billie UKall Companies 395210% UK Gilts309740% 12
Global Bonds59550% Note: A small part of available funds has been allocated to the securityas it has the least beta and highest return in the securities in which investment has been made. Thus, the same will not affect the capital developed by Billie in a significant manner even though the specified security allocates its sources in equity (risky asset) to the maximum extent. Conclusion It can be concluded that Billie should invest in more than one security. As through developing a diversified portfolio, she would be able to develop an asset portfolio of her own choice. Moreover, she would be able to recover the loss borne from one asset against the profit earned from another asset. The fact cannot be denied that she would not be able to earn huge profits from single security. But overall she would be able to make a significant profit. 13