Case Study Analysis Cost Of Capital At Ameritrade Finance Essay

Case Study Analysis Cost Of Capital At Ameritrade Finance Essay Capital Asset Pricing Model is a model that describes the relationship between risk and expected return  and  that is used in the pricing of risky securities. Description: Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) The general idea behind CAPM is that investors need to be compensated in two ways: time value of money  and risk. The time value of money is represented by the risk-free(rf) rate  in the formula and compensates the investors for placing money in any investment over a period of time. The other half of the formula represents risk and calculates the amount of compensation the investor needs for taking on  additional risk. This is calculated by taking a risk measure (beta)  that compares the returns of the asset to the market over a period of time and to the market premium (Rm-rf). The CAPM says that the expected return of a security or a portfolio equals the rate on a risk-free security plus a risk premium. If this expected return does not meet or beat the required retur n, then the investment should not be undertaken. The security market line plots the results of the CAPM for all different risks (betas). Using the CAPM model  and the following assumptions, we can compute the expected return of a stock in this CAPM example: â€Å"if the risk-free rate is  3%, the beta (risk measure) of the stock is 2 and the expected market return over the period is 10%, the stock is expected to return 17% (3%+2(10%-3%))†. CAPM has a lot of important consequences. For one thing it turns finding the efficient frontier into a doable task, because you only have to calculate the co-variances of every pair of classes, instead of every pair of everything. Another consequence is that CAPM implies that investing in individual stocks is pointless, because you can duplicate the reward and risk characteristics of any security just by using the right mix of cash with the appropriate asset class. This is why followers of MPT avoid stocks, and instead build portfolios out of low cost index funds. â€Å"Cap-M† looks at risk and rates of return and compares them to the overall stock market. If you use CAPM you have to assume that most investors want to avoid risk, (risk averse), and those who do take risks, expect to be rewarded. It also assumes that investors are â€Å"price takers† who can’t influence the price of assets or markets. With CAPM you assume that there are no transactional costs or taxation and assets and securities are divisible into small little packets. CAPM assumes that investors are not limited in their borrowing and lending under the risk free rate of interest. How to Calculate the Cost of Equity CAPM The cost of equity is the amount of compensation an investor requires to invest in an equity investment. The cost of equity is estimable is several ways, including the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). The formula for calculating the cost of equity using CAPM is the risk-free rate plus beta times the market r isk premium. Beta compares the risk of the asset to the market, so it is a risk that, even with diversification, will not go away. As an example, a company has a beta of 0.9, the risk-free rate is 1 percent and the expected return on the equity investment is 4 percent.