Deck 9: Interest Rate Risk II

Question 1

In duration analysis, the times at which cash flows are received are weighted by the relative importance in present value terms of the cash flows arriving at each point in time.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

For a given maturity fixed-income asset, duration decreases as the market yield increases.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Duration measures the average life of a financial asset or financial liability.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In most countries FIs report their balance sheet using market value accounting.

Question 5

A key assumption of Macaulay duration is that the yield curve is flat so that all cash flows are discounted at the same discount rate.

Question 6

Duration considers the timing of all the cash flows of an asset by summing the product of the cash flows and the time of occurrence.

Question 7

Interest elasticity is the percentage change in the price of a bond for any given change in interest rates.

Question 8

As interest rates rise, the duration of a consol bond decreases.

Question 9

Marking-to-market accounting is a market value accounting method that reflects the purchase prices of assets and liabilities.

Question 10

Duration of a fixed-rate coupon bond will always be greater than one-half of the maturity.

Question 11

Market value accounting reflects economic reality of a FIs balance sheet.

Question 12

The economic meaning of duration is the interest elasticity of a financial asset's price.

Question 13

Duration is equal to maturity when at least some of the cash flows are received upon maturity of the asset.

Question 14

Duration is related to maturity in a linear manner through the interest rate of the asset.

Question 15

Normally, duration is less than the maturity for a fixed income asset.

Question 16

Duration increases with the maturity of a fixed-income asset at a decreasing rate.

Question 17

Duration is the weighted-average present value of the cash flows using the timing of the cash flows as weights.

Question 18

Duration is related to maturity in a nonlinear manner through the current yield to maturity of the asset.

Question 19

The difference between the changes in the market value of assets and market value of liabilities for a given change in interest rates is, by definition, the change in the FI's net worth.

Question 20

Duration of a zero coupon bond is equal to the bond's maturity.

Question 21

Using a fixed-rate bond to immunize a desired investment horizon means that the reinvested coupon payments are not affected by changes in market interest rates.

Question 22

Deep discount bonds are semi-annual fixed-rate coupon bonds that sell at a market price that is less than par value.

Question 23

The immunization of a portfolio against interest rate risk means that the portfolio will neither gain nor lose value when interest rates change.

Question 24

Perfect matching of the maturities of the assets and liabilities will always achieve perfect immunization for the equity holders of an FI against interest rate risk.

Question 25

For a given maturity fixed-income asset, duration increases as the promised interest payment declines.

Question 26

Buying a fixed-rate asset whose duration is exactly equal to the desired investment horizon immunizes against interest rate risk.

Question 27

Matching the maturities of assets and liabilities is not a perfect method of immunizing the balance sheet because the timing of the cash flows is likely to differ between the assets and liabilities.

Question 28

Immunization of a FIs net worth requires the duration of the liabilities to be adjusted for the amount of leverage on the balance sheet.

Question 29

For a given change in required yields, short-duration securities suffer a smaller capital loss or receive a smaller capital gain than do long-duration securities.

Question 30

The value for duration describes the percentage increase in the price of a fixed-income asset for a given increase in the required yield or interest rate.

Question 31

For given changes in interest rates, the change in the market value of net worth of an FI is equal to the difference between the changes in the market value of the assets and market value of the liabilities.

Question 32

The larger the interest rate shock, the smaller the interest rate risk exposure of an FI.

Question 33

Setting the duration of the assets higher than the duration of the liabilities will exactly immunize the net worth of an FI from interest rate shocks.

Question 34

Larger coupon payments on a fixed-income asset cause the present value weights of the cash flows to be lower in the duration calculation.

Question 35

An FI can immunize its portfolio by matching the maturity of its asset with its liabilities.

Question 36

Investing in a zero-coupon asset with a maturity equal to the desired investment horizon is one method of immunizing against changes in interest rates.

Question 37

The smaller the leverage-adjusted duration gap, the more exposed the FI is to interest rate shocks.

Question 38

The duration of a portfolio of assets can be found by calculating the book value weighted average of the durations of the individual assets.

Question 39

Immunizing the balance sheet of an FI against interest rate risk requires that the leverage adjusted duration gap (D_A-kD_L) should be set to zero.

Question 40

Investing in a zero-coupon asset with a maturity equal to the desired investment horizon removes interest rate risk from the investment management process.

Question 41

One method of changing the positive leverage adjusted duration gap for the purpose of immunizing the net worth of a typical depository institution is to increase the duration of the assets and to decrease the duration of the liabilities.

Question 42

The greater is convexity, the more insurance a portfolio manager has against interest rate increases and the greater potential gain from rate decreases.

Question 43

Attempts to satisfy the objectives of shareholders and regulators requires the bank to use the same duration match in the protection of net worth from interest rate risk.

Question 44

As the investment horizon approaches, the duration of an unrebalanced portfolio that originally was immunized will be less than the time remaining to the investment horizon.

Question 45

Dollar duration is the dollar value change in a security's price to a 1 percent change in the return on the security.

Question 46

The error from using duration to estimate the new price of a fixed-income security will be less as the amount of convexity increases.

Question 47

The cost in terms of both time and money to restructure the balance sheet of large and complex FIs has decreased over time.

Question 48

The leverage adjusted duration of a typical depository institution is positive.

Question 49

The fact that the capital gain effect for rate decreases is greater than the capital loss effect for rate increases is caused by convexity in the yield-price relationship.

Question 50

Immunizing net worth from interest rate risk using duration matching requires that the duration match must be realigned periodically as the maturity horizon approaches.

Question 51

To measure duration gap one should first determine the duration of an FI's asset portfolio and the duration of its liability portfolio.

Question 52

Which of the following statements is true regarding duration?

A)increases with the maturity of a fixed-income security but at a decreasing rate.
B)decreases as the yield on a security increases.
C)decreases as the coupon or interest payment increases.
D)is equal to the maturity of an immunized security.
E)all of the above are true.

Question 53

Convexity is a desirable effect to a portfolio manager because it is easy to measure and price.

Question 54

The use of duration to predict changes in bond prices for given changes in interest rate changes will always underestimate the amount of the true price change.

Question 55

The economic interpretation of duration is

A)the percentage of the current market price of a security that is accounted for by the book value of the security.
B)the interest elasticity of a security to a small change in interest rates.
C)the maturity elasticity of a security to a small change in cash flows of the security.
D)the price elasticity of a security to a small change in interest rates.
E)The average time it will take to equate the present value of future cash flows from the security to the cost of the security.

Question 56

All fixed-income assets exhibit convexity in their price-yield relationships.

Question 57

The rate of change in duration values is less than the rate of change in maturity.

Question 58

Modified duration is defined as duration multiplied by 1 plus the interest rate.

Question 59

Which of the following statements is true regarding effects of interest rate changes on the market value of an FI's equity or net worth?

A)the leverage adjusted duration gap reflects the degree of duration mismatch in an FI's balance sheet.
B)the size of the FI reflects the scale of the FI and its potential net worth exposure from any given interest rate shock.
C)the size of the interest rate shock; the larger the size the greater the FI's exposure.
D)A, B, and C are true.
E)none of the above are true.

Question 60

Immunizing the net worth ratio requires that the duration of the assets be set equal to the duration of the liabilities.

Question 61

When does "duration" become a less accurate predictor of expected change in security prices?

A)As interest rate shocks increase in size.
B)As interest rate shocks decrease in size.
C)When maturity distributions of an FI's assets and liabilities are considered.
D)As inflation decreases.
E)When the leverage adjustment is incorporated.

Question 62

Calculate the duration of a two-year corporate loan paying 6 percent interest annually, selling at par.The $30,000,000 loan is 100 percent amortizing with annual payments.

A)2 years.
B)1.89 years.
C)1.94 years.
D)1.49 years.
E)1.73 years.

Question 63

Managers can achieve the results of duration matching by using these to hedge interest rate risk.

A)Rate sensitive assets.
B)Rate sensitive liabilities.
C)Coupon bonds.
D)Consol bonds.
E)Derivatives.

Question 64

Calculating modified duration involves

A)dividing the value of duration by the change in the market interest rate.
B)dividing the value of duration by 1 plus the interest rate.
C)dividing the value of duration by discounted change in interest rates.
D)multiplying the value of duration by discounted change in interest rates.
E)dividing the value of duration by the curvature effect.

Question 65

Immunizing the balance sheet to protect equity holders from the effects of interest rate risk occurs when

A)the maturity gap is zero, so that all assets have a matching-maturity liability.
B)the repricing gap is zero, so that all assets have a matching liability that reprices at the same time.
C)the modified duration gap of the balance sheet is zero.
D)the effect of a change in the level of interest rates on the value of the assets of the FI is exactly offset by the effect of the same change in interest rates on the liabilities of the FI.
E)When the modified duration is equal to the dollar duration.

Question 66

Calculate the duration of a two-year corporate bond paying 6 percent interest annually, selling at par.Principal of $20,000,000 is due at the end of two years.

A)2 years.
B)1.91 years.
C)1.94 years.
D)1.49 years.
E)1.75 years.

Question 67

Immunization of a portfolio implies that changes in _____ will not affect the value of the portfolio.

A)book value of assets
B)maturity
C)market prices
D)interest rates
E)duration

Question 68

Suppose a pension fund must have $10,000,000 five years from now to make required payments to retirees.If the pension wants to guarantee the funds are available regardless of future interest rate changes, it should

A)sell a 5-year duration bond so that it matures with a book value of $10,000,000.
B)sell $10,000,000 face value discount bonds with a duration of five years.
C)purchase 7-year, semi-annual coupon bonds that have a duration of five years.
D)purchase 8-year, annual payment bonds that have a dollar duration of $10,000,000.
E)none of the options since future interest rates are too unpredictable.

Question 69

The larger the size of an FI, the larger the _________ from any given interest rate shock.

A)duration mismatch
B)immunization effect
C)net worth exposure
D)net interest income
E)risk of bankruptcy

Question 70

An FI has financial assets of $800 and equity of $50.If the duration of assets is 1.21 years and the duration of all liabilities is 0.25 years, what is the leverage-adjusted duration gap?

A)0.9000 years.
B)0.9600 years.
C)0.9756 years.
D)0.8844 years.
E)Cannot be determined. Leverage-adjusted duration gap
$$- \left[ D _ { A } - D _ { L } k \right] = - \left[ 1.21 - 0.25 \times \left( \frac { 800 - 50 } { 800 } \right) \right] = - [ 1.21 - 0.234375 ] = - 0.9756$$

Question 71

Which of the following statements about leverage-adjusted duration gap is true?

A)It is equal to the duration of the assets minus the duration of the liabilities.
B)Larger the gap in absolute terms, the more exposed the FI is to interest rate shocks.
C)It reflects the degree of maturity mismatch in an FI's balance sheet.
D)It indicates the dollar size of the potential net worth.
E)Its value is equal to duration divided by (1 + R).

Question 72

The duration of a consol bond is

A)less than its maturity.
B)infinity.
C)30 years.
D)more than its maturity.
E)given by the formula D = 1/(1-R).

Question 73

Which of the following statements is true?

A)The optimal duration gap is zero.
B)Duration gap measures the impact of changes in interest rates on the market value of equity.
C)The shorter the maturity of the FI's securities, the greater the FI's interest rate risk exposure.
D)The duration of all floating rate debt instruments is equal to the time to maturity.
E)The duration of equity is equal to the duration of assets minus the duration of liabilities.

Question 74

A relatively high numerical value of the duration of an asset means which of the following t?

A)Low sensitivity of an asset price to interest rate shocks.
B)High interest inelasticity of a bond.
C)High sensitivity of an asset price to interest rate shocks.
D)Lack of sensitivity of an asset price to interest rate shocks.
E)Smaller capital loss for a given change in interest rates.

Question 75

Calculate the modified duration of a two-year corporate loan paying 6 percent interest annually.The $40,000,000 loan is 100 percent amortizing, and the current yield is 9 percent annually.

A)2 years.
B)1.91 years.
C)1.94 years.
D)1.49 years.
E)1.36 years.

Question 76

The duration of all floating rate debt instruments is

A)equal to the time to maturity.
B)less than the time to repricing of the instrument.
C)time interval between the purchase of the security and its sale.
D)equal to time to repricing of the instrument.
E)infinity.

Question 77

Dollar duration of a fixed-income security is defined as

A)the dollar value change in the price of a security to a one-percent change in the return on the security.
B)the dollar value change in the price of a security to a change in the Macaulay's duration of the security.
C)The market price of a security following a one-percent change in the return on the security.
D)Macaulay's duration divided by one plus the interest rate times the market price of the security.
E)the modified duration of a security times the price of the security.

Question 78

Why does immunization against interest rate shocks using duration for fixed-income securities work?

A)Because interest rate changes are relatively predictable.
B)Because the gains or losses on reinvested cash flows that result from an interest rate change are exactly offset by losses or gains from the security when it is sold.
C)Because the fixed-income security gravitates toward its maturity value as it approaches its maximum duration.
D)Because cash flows that result from the security are not reinvested so they are not affected by interest rate changes in the same way as the security's gain or loss when it is sold.
E)It doesn't work because perfect immunization is impossible to accomplish.

Question 79

All else equal, as compared to an annual payment fixed income security, a semi-annual payment security has a

A)lower duration value and lower market value.
B)higher duration but lower price sensitivity.
C)lower duration and more cash flows.
D)higher duration and more cash flows.
E)none of the options.

Question 80

For small change in interest rates, market prices of bonds are inversely proportional to their

A)equity.
B)asset value.
C)liability value.
D)duration value.
E)none of the options.