Assignment No2
Assignment No2
HCL Tech
PowerGrid
Q2. What is beta of a levered firm and unlevered firm?
Ans.
Levered Beta: - Levered beta is a financial calculation
that indicates the systematic risk of a stock used in the
capital asset pricing model (CAPM).
A key determinant of beta is leverage, i.e. the level of
the firm’s debt compared to equity. The systematic risk
includes the different types of risk that may affect the
stock performance, including macroeconomic factors,
political events, etc., and it cannot be leveraged through
diversification.
Example-
A financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. One of his daily
tasks includes the calculation of a stock’s leveraged beta
to determine the effect of leverage on the stock’s risk.
Currently, he analyses a stock with a beta 1.25, and a
debt-to-equity ratio 13%. Also, the company is taxed at
35%.
Calculate the unlevered beta formula of the stock
Unlevered beta= beta / 1 + (1 – tax rate) x (debt /equity)
= 1.25 / 1 + (1 – 35%) x 13% = 1.33.
Unlevered Beta: -
Beta is a measure of market risk. Unlevered beta (or
asset beta) measures the market risk of the company
without the impact of debt. Unlevering a beta removes
the financial effects of leverage thus isolating the risk
due solely to company assets. In other words, how much
did the company's equity contribute to its risk profile.
Unlevering the beta removes any beneficial or
detrimental effects gained by adding debt to the
firm's capital structure. Comparing companies'
unlevered betas gives an investor clarity on the
composition of risk being assumed when purchasing the
stock.
The formula for unlevered beta is as follow
Example-
Calculate the unlevered beta for Tesla, Inc. As of November
2017, its beta is 0.73, Debt per equity ratio is 2.2, and its
corporate tax rate is 35%.
Systematic risk
This is the risk that highlights the possibility of a collapse
of the entire financial system or the stock market
causing a catastrophic impact on the entire system in
the country. It refers to the risks caused by financial
system instability, potentially catastrophic or
idiosyncratic events to the interlinkages and other
interdependencies in the overall market.
For e.g. Mr ‘A’ has made a portfolio constituting 500
shares of a Media company, 500 Corporate bonds, and
500 Government bonds. A recent interest rate cut has
been announced by the Central Bank due to which Mr
‘A’ wants to reconsider the impact on his portfolio and
how he can re-work around it. Given that the Beta of the
portfolio is 2.0, it is assumed that portfolio returns will
be fluctuating 2.0 times more than the market returns.
If the market spikes by 3%, the portfolio will
increase by 3%*2.0 = 6%. On the other hand, if the
market falls by 3%, the overall portfolio will also
decrease by 6%. Accordingly, Mr ‘A’ will have to lower
the exposure of stocks and perhaps increase exposure in
bonds as the fluctuations are not sharp in bonds
compared to stocks. The asset allocation can be
considered as 250 shares of Media firm, 500 Corporate
Bonds and 750 Municipal bonds. This may seem to be a
defensive mode but Municipal bonds are perhaps the
most secure in terms of a default offering stable returns.
Unsystematic risk
Also known as Diversifiable or Non-systematic risk, it is
the threat related to a specific security or a portfolio of
securities. Investors construct these diversified
portfolios for allocating risks over various classes of
assets. Let us consider an example of a clearer
understanding:
On March 1, 2016, Mr. Matthew invests $50,000 in a
diversified portfolio which invests 50% in stocks of
Automobile companies, 20% in I.T. stocks and a balance
of 30% in stocks of Airline companies. On February 28,
2017, the value of the portfolio is enhanced to $57,500
thereby bringing annual growth of 15% [$57,500 –
$50,000 *100]
One fine day, he gets to know that one of the airlines
has defaulted on employee salary payments due to
which the employees are on strike and other airlines are
expected to follow the same tactic. The investor is
worried and one option to be considered for Mr.
Matthew is to either hold on to the investment with the
expectation of the issue getting resolved or he can divert
those funds to other sectors that are experiencing
stability or maybe divert them in bond investments.