Comprehensive and Detailed 150 to 250 words of Explanation From Retail Securities/Course Guide/topics]:
The Capital Asset Pricing Model calculates expected return as follows:
Expected return = Risk-free rate + Beta × (Market return − Risk-free rate)
The market risk premium is:
9% − 4% = 5%
Applying the security’s beta:
Expected return = 4% + 1.4 × 5%
Expected return = 4% + 7% = 11%
Option C is correct.
A beta of 1.4 indicates that the security has greater systematic market sensitivity than an asset with a beta of 1.0. CAPM therefore assigns it a larger risk premium than the market portfolio. Option B ignores the security’s above-market beta. Option D incorrectly multiplies the market return itself by beta without first separating the risk-free return from the market risk premium.
CAPM prices systematic risk because market-wide risk cannot be eliminated through diversification. Issuer-specific or unsystematic risk is not separately rewarded under the model because a diversified investor can substantially reduce it. The resulting 11% is a model-based expected or required return, not a guaranteed future return.
CIRO’s Retail Securities syllabus expressly requires candidates to understand asset-pricing models and apply CAPM using the risk-free rate, beta and market risk premium.
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