P1.

Mock Exam D
FRM 2012 Practice Questions

By David Harper, CFA FRM CIPM

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Table of Contents
Question 1: On- and off-balance-sheet foreign exchange (FX) risk hedges ..................... 3
Question 2: Capital asset pricing model (CAPM) .................................................... 3
Question 3: EWMA covariance ......................................................................... 3
Question 4: Collateralization in over-the-counter (OTC) market ................................. 4
Question 5: Role of rating agencies in financial markets .......................................... 4
Question 6: Geometric Brownian motion (GBM) Monte Carlo simulation ........................ 4
Question 7: Chase Manhattan Bank/Drysdale Securities ........................................... 5
Question 8: Arbitrage pricing model (APT) .......................................................... 5
Question 9: Eurodollar futures and duration-based hedges ....................................... 5
Question 10: Limitations of Value-at-Risk (VaR). Coherent Risk Measures. ..................... 5
Question 11: Chi-square distribution ................................................................. 6
Question 12: Basis risk .................................................................................. 6
Question 13: Spectral risk measures .................................................................. 6
Question 14: Hypothesis testing (Stock & Watson) ................................................. 7
Question 15: Currency swap valuation ............................................................... 7
Question 16: Tax argument for risk management .................................................. 8
Question 17: Black-Scholes with dividends .......................................................... 8
Question 18: American option lower bounds ........................................................ 9
Question 19: Dynamic delta hedging ................................................................. 9
Question 20: Bond price using spot rates ............................................................ 9
Question 21: Difference between two means ..................................................... 10
Question 22: Commodity lease rates ............................................................... 10
Question 23: Expected loss (M. Ong) ............................................................... 10
Question 24: Bond maturity and retirement ....................................................... 11
Question 25: Dollar value of an '01 (DV01; aka, DVBP, PV01) ................................... 11

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FRM 2012 n PART 1: MOCK EXAM D n 1

Candidate Answer Sheet: Mark an X under your answer of choice.

Question #
1
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Answer A

Answer B

Answer C

Answer D

FRM 2012 n PART 1: MOCK EXAM D n 2

Question 1: On- and off-balance-sheet foreign exchange (FX) risk hedges

1. A U.S. bank raises $200 million in liabilities, that pay an interest rate of 4.0%, in order to fund
two investments: $100 million invested into U.S. dollar denominated assets and the remaining
$100 million invested into Euro- (EUR) denominated assets. The expected net (of default risk)
yield on the USD assets is 6.0% and the net yield on the EUR-denominated assets is 8.0%. In this
way the expected return on the investment (ROI) is 3.0% as the difference between the blended
ROA of 7.0% (average of 6.0% and 8.0%) and the cost of funds (COF) of 4.0%. However, the bank
is un-hedged with respect to currency risk. At the beginning of the year, the exchange rate is
EUR/USD $1.40. At the end of the year, the exchange rate has moved to EUR/USD $1.26. The
nominal returns for the year were exactly as expected.
What is the one-year realized ROI if we account for the currency shift?
Note #1: please assume all interest rates are effective annual rates (EARs). For example, an
effective annual rate of 8.0% is equivalent to 8.0% per annum with (discrete) annual
compounding.
Note #2: In the initial exchange rate of EUR/USD $1.40, EUR is the base currency and USD is the
quote currency, so this quote format refers to USD $1.40 per one unit of EUR.
a)
b)
c)
d)

ROI of +5.90% because the EUR appreciated against the USD

ROI of -4.30% because the EUR appreciated against the USD
ROI of +1.90% because the EUR depreciated against the USD
ROI of -2.40% because the EUR depreciated against the USD

Question 2: Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)

2. Assume the riskfree rate is 4% and the expected (overall) market return is 12% with 20%
volatility. Our portfolio (P) has volatility of 30% and a correlation with the market of 0.4.
According to CAPM, what is the portfolio's expected return?
a)
b)
c)
d)

6.0%
8.8%
11.2%
12.0%

Question 3: EWMA covariance

3. Assume two assets, A and B. Asset A closed trading yesterday with daily volatility of 1.0% and
daily return of +1.0%; i.e., sigma A(n-1) = 1.0% and return A(n-1) = 1.0%. Asset B closed trading
yesterday with daily volatility of 2.0% and a daily return of +2.0%; i.e., sigma B(n-1) = 2.0% and
return B(n-1) = 2.0%. Yesterday's correlation (coefficient) between the two assets was 0.40. If
we use the EWMA model with a lambda parameter of 0.90 to update covariance, what is today's
updated estimate of the correlation between the assets?
a)
b)
c)
d)

0.38
0.40
0.44
0.46

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FRM 2012 n PART 1: MOCK EXAM D n 3