1. What does an equipment trust certificate imply?

2. What is the cost of each bond if it is priced to yield 8 percent?

3. How much will have to be invested in the zero coupon bond to meet the objective?

4. Assuming that the amount determined in (3) is invested in each bond and that yields do not change, will each bond meet the objective? Can the answer be verified? Corcoran’s answers do not satisfy Bjornsund’s concerns and he asks the following questions.

5. Can the prices of the bond change?

6. If interest rates rise to 10 percent and remain there for ten years, will each bond meet the objective?

7. If interest rates decline to 5 percent and remain there for ten years, will each bond meet the objective? Corcoran points out that bond management is not limited to the pricing of bonds and tells Bjornsund that it is also important to know a bond’s duration. Duration is important because it reduces interest rate and reinvestment rate risk and facilitates selecting bonds to meet a financial objective.

8. Given the current prices of each bond, what is the duration of each bond?

9. Given the durations, which bonds, if any, will meet the investment objective? Can the answer to this question be verified?

Fiona Corcoran is responsible for meeting distributions for EEM Health and Life Insurance Company. An actuary, Robert Bjornsund, has forecasted that a specific policy will require $210,000 after ten years. Current interest rates are 8 percent, and RPM Restoration equipment trust certificates (i.e., collateralized bonds) are available for possible investment. Their terms are

Bond A: zero percent coupon with maturity in 10 years,

Bond B: 8 percent coupon with maturity in 10 years,

Bond C: 8 percent coupon with maturity in 18 years.