During a period of rapidly accelerating inflation, an investor reallocates their capital into a broad fixed-income portfolio comprising 50 distinct long-term corporate bonds across various market sectors. Which of the following statements correctly evaluates the primary risk remaining in this portfolio?
- The portfolio remains exposed to purchasing power risk, a systematic risk that cannot be eliminated through diversification across multiple bond issuers.Cevap
- BThe portfolio has successfully eliminated systematic risk because the holdings are spread across 50 non-correlated corporate issuers.
- CThe portfolio is insulated from rising interest rates because existing bond market prices increase when prevailing inflation drives yields higher.
- DThe portfolio's dominant vulnerability is non-systematic credit risk, which causes the macroeconomic yield curve to invert and boost long-term prices.
Cevap
The portfolio remains exposed to purchasing power risk, a systematic risk that cannot be eliminated through diversification across multiple bond issuers.
Purchasing power (inflation) risk is a key subtype of systematic risk. Fixed-rate debt instruments pay fixed interest streams that lose real purchasing power as inflation accelerates. Because market-wide macroeconomic shifts affect all fixed-income instruments, diversifying across 50 corporate issuers lowers non-systematic (credit/default) risk but leaves systematic purchasing power risk intact.
Adım Adım Çözüm
Anahtar Kavram
Systematic Risk and Non-Diversifiability of Inflation/Purchasing Power Risk