Consider a U.S. portfolio manager holding a portfolio of French stocks. The market value of the portfolio

Question:

Consider a U.S. portfolio manager holding a portfolio of French stocks. The market value of the portfolio is €20 million, with a beta of 1.2 relative to the CAC index. In November, the spot value of the CAC index is 4,000, and the price of a futures contract on the CAC index for December delivery is 4,000. The dividend yield, euro interest rates, and dollar interest rates are all equal to 4 percent (fiat yield curves), a. The portfolio manager fears a drop in the French stock market (but not the euro). The size of CAC index futures contracts is €10 times the CAC index. There are futures contracts quoted with December delivery. How many contracts should he buy or sell to hedge the French stock market risk?
b). Puts on the CAC index with December expiration and a strike price of 4,000 sell for 50. Assume the standard contract size for the index options is €10 times the CAC index. How many puts should he buy or sell to insure the portfolio? Compare the results of this insurance with the hedge suggested previously. Assume that the CAC index in December is equal to 3,800, 4,000, and 4,200, successively.
c. Suppose the manager fears a depreciation of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar. Will the previously mentioned strategies protect against this depreciation? Strike Price
In finance, the strike price of an option is the fixed price at which the owner of the option can buy, or sell, the underlying security or commodity.
Dividend
A dividend is a distribution of a portion of company’s earnings, decided and managed by the company’s board of directors, and paid to the shareholders. Dividends are given on the shares. It is a token reward paid to the shareholders for their...
Portfolio
A portfolio is a grouping of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies and cash equivalents, as well as their fund counterparts, including mutual, exchange-traded and closed funds. A portfolio can also consist of non-publicly...
Fantastic news! We've Found the answer you've been seeking!

Step by Step Answer:

Related Book For  book-img-for-question

Global Investments

ISBN: 978-0321527707

6th edition

Authors: Bruno Solnik, Dennis McLeavey

Question Posted: