Essay About Market Timing Relative And Excel File Asia_Momentum.Xlsx

Mgtf402 – Investment Analysis
Midterm Exam, October 26, 2015MgtF402 – Investment AnalysisInstructions: This is an open book exam. You have 2 hours to complete your answers. The weight on each question (out of 100) is listed next to the question.The table below shows the (rounded) 2014 portfolio weights and returns for the Harvard Management Company (HMC) along with returns on a simple benchmark.AssetBenchmarkweightsBenchmark returnsHMC Actual weights HMC Actual returnsEquity40%21%49%20%Real assets 20%10%25%11%Absolute returns20%7%15%12%Fixed Income20%4%11%8%Compute the HMC’s total (actual) portfolio return and its returns from security selection and market timing relative to the benchmark. (10 points)Total portfolio return:Return from security selection:Return from market timing:Explain if the HMC under or out-performed the benchmark and describe the sources of any superior/inferior performance. (8 points)Using finance theory, explain why HMC puts a high weight on real assets (property, real estate, natural resources). (8 points)2. The excel file Asia_momentum.xlsx in the Midterm folder on TED provides monthly returns on portfolios of Asia-Pacific ex Japan stocks sorted by company size and return momentum. Column A lists the date (month) while columns B and C show returns on portfolios of large loser and winner stocks. The market excess return (Mkt-Rf) is listed in column D while SMB, HML and WML in columns E, F and G show returns on the size, book-to-market and momentum risk factors for Asian stocks. Column H lists the risk-free rate and column I shows the Asian market return. Returns are in fractions per month (0.05 means 5%) and cover the period 1990:11 – 2015:08.