Question

Difficulty: EasyNon-Systematic and Credit Risks

An investor is reviewing portfolio risk concepts with a registered representative. Which of the following statements regarding non-systematic risk and credit risk are correct?

  1. Business risk and regulatory risk are non-systematic risks that can be reduced through asset diversification.Answer
  2. Credit risk is the risk that a corporate bond issuer will fail to make timely payments of interest or principal.Answer
  3. C
    Credit risk is a systematic risk caused by changes in overall market interest rates that impacts all bond issuers equally.
  4. D
    Non-systematic risk affects the entire financial market and cannot be mitigated by diversifying across multiple issuers.

Answer

The correct statements are that business and regulatory risks are non-systematic risks that can be reduced through diversification, and credit risk is the risk that an issuer fails to meet interest or principal payment obligations.
Non-systematic risk is specific to an individual issuer or industry and can be effectively mitigated through diversification across different issuers. Credit risk directly measures the likelihood that a debtor will default on its interest or principal payments.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the nature of non-systematic risk
Non-systematic risks (such as business, regulatory, and credit risks) are unique to specific companies or industries and can be reduced or eliminated through portfolio diversification.
Understanding non-systematic vs. systematic risk helps distinguish diversifyable risk from broad market risk.
2
Define credit risk
Credit risk specifically refers to issuer default risk regarding interest and principal payments on debt obligations.
Credit risk evaluates issuer creditworthiness rather than broader macroeconomic market fluctuations.

Key Concept

Non-systematic risk is company- or industry-specific risk that can be diversified away, while credit risk measures the specific probability of issuer default on debt obligations.
Rate this question