SU4- Financial Investment & Asset Valuation

Financial investment basics

Common investment classes

Market

Factors

Company

Valuation methods

Fixed-income securities

Risks

Derivatives

Assets

Markets

Types

Tangible

Real

Intangible

Financial

E.g. securities (stocks, bonds), derivative contracts (value dependent on agreed upon financial asset's value), cash

Physical nature

E.g. real estate (land), equipment, commodities, natural resources, infrastructures

High liquidity

No physical form

E.g. patents, copyright, trademarks, intellectual property

Valuation- depends on cash flow generation potential

Types

Debt- promise to repay borrowed funds e.g. bonds, certificates of deposit

Equity- ownership in an entity e.g. common, preferred stock

Transaction mode

Publicly (regulated) traded- listed/traded on exchanges, OTC or phone/internet, through security dealers

Privately (non-regulated) traded- often illiquid, transacted by licensed investment representation

Spot market- where financial instrument delivered when traded

Future delivery- thru contracts (e.g. forwards, futures, options)

Primary market- for newly issued securities

Secondary market- for subsequent security sales

Money market- for debt securities with short-term maturities

Capital market- for longer-term debt securities/equities without specific maturity date

Main categorisation

Securities- provide lenders protection against defaults e.g. fixed income (bonds, notes), equity, pooled investment vehicles (mutual/hedge funds)

Contract- right to goods/service payment e.g. futures, forwards, options, swaps, insurance

Commodities- basic goods/raw materials used as input to produce other goods e.g. agricultural products (grains), industrial/precious metals (gold), energy products (electricity, oil, natural gases)

Currencies

Positions

Long (buy)- current/future ownership; expects asset value increase

Short- agreement to sell/deliver asset; expects asset value decrease

Short-sell- sell borrowed stock

Equity

Common stock

Preferred stock

Warrants

Public equity- accessible to general public

Private equity- issued to institutional investors via private placement

Types

Leveraged buyout

Private investment in public equity (PIPE)

Residual claim on firm's assets

Dividends- paid only after debtholder, preferred stockholder

Voting rights

Board of directors

Management decisions

Common stock-like features- shares do not mature

Debt-like features- periodic dividends

Priority- before common stock holders

No voting rights

Can have put/call features

Vs. options

Similarity- right to buy firm's equity at fixed exercise price

Differences

Directly issued by company itself (instead of 3rd pt)

Traded OTC rather than in exchange

Issue new (not existing/recycled) stocks upon exercise

No dividends, voting rights

Characteristics

Less liquid

Weaker corporate governance- less reporting requirements

No public scrutiny- firm can focus on long-term development (potentially greater return)

Venture capital

Capital provided to start-ups in early life cycle, funding development

Fund commitment- typically 3-10 years before getting return

Investors- commonly family, relatives, private equity funds

Investors buy firm's equity using borrowed money

Firm's assets

Collateral for investor's loan

Undervalued- can be used to pay loan over time

Public firm (urgently needs capital)- sell stocks to private investors, often at a discount below market price

Share price- negotiated btw offering firm and investors (not market-determined)

Market vs book value

Market value- based on market perception of firm's (current/potential/future) performance

Book value- based on management's decisions (E = A - L)

Industry

Environment

Determines

Peers

Industry avg

Trend

Classification

By products/service offered

By government bodies' determined categorisation e.g. SGX listed companies follow Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC)

Demographic (population characteristics e.g. age, education, income)- affects preferences, buying behaviours

Govt

Tech- changes goods/services delivery way e.g. automation, internet connectivity, digital/social media, telecomm

Social- spending behaviour, way of living

Macroeconomic (economy aspects e.g. GDP, inflation/interest/unemployment rate)- affected by political stability, natural disasters, trade regulation changes, demand

Regulation e.g. taxes, trade control, subsidies, import/export regulations

Stability

Analysis- of internal strengths, weaknesses

Profile

Financial condition

Products/services

Demand, supply

Pricing

Competitive strategy

Discounted CF models- find investment PV based on future CF using discount rate

Relative valuation measures- value comparison

Dividend discount model (DDM)

Free cash flow to equity (FCFE)

Asset-based models- focuses on firm's net asset value (E = A - L)

Predicts stock price

Based on future dividend (per share) discounted back to PV

CF that can be distributed to common shareholders; excess cash after meeting all debt obligations, expenditures

Time series- historical avg as benchmark

Cross-sectional- industry avg as benchmark

Commonly compared indicators e.g. P/E ratio, operating margin

Limitation

Asset market value- hard to obtain

Problematic for firms with many intangible assets

Ignores prospective earnings

To supplement with other valuation methods

Useful when planning for liquidation

Characteristics

Term

Short (1-2 years) e.g. commercial paper

Intermediate (2-5 years) e.g. treasury notes

Long (5-10 years) e.g. bonds

Eventual principal repayment upon maturity

Period of steady income- periodic interest payment

Credit-rated (by agencies like S&P, Moody's)- range from AAA (most creditworthy) to D (default)

Some govt-guaranteed e.g. treasuries

Exchange rate risk- for foreign currency denominated

Interest rate risk- interest rate flux affects such market value of such securities

E.g. bonds

Characteristics

(Inherent) credit risk- default of interest/principal

If interest rate (hard to predict) drops, bond price increases

Additional reinvestment risk (finding alternative investment with same/higher interest rate)- for callable bonds where issuer has right to repurchase/retire bond

Price determination factors

Bond issuer

Par/face/redemption value (principal amt repaid upon maturity)

Maturity (date principal repayable)- fixed

Coupon payment

Call provision

Currency

Less credible- typically higher expected return rate as compensation

Issuing entities

Corporations

Govt

Sovereign national govt

Non-sovereign e.g. state govt

Quasi-govt

Supranational- global organisations e.g. World Bank

Financial

Non-financial

Affects credit/default risk

Bond price- always quoted as a % of the par value

When BP > par value- trading at premium

When BP < par value- trading at discount

When BP = par value- trading at par

Term to maturity/tenor- time remaining until maturity; remaining life

No maturity date- perpetual bonds (has steady interest stream forever but no principal repayment)

Coupon rate- expressed as a % of par value

Zero-coupon bonds

No interest payment prior to maturity date

All interest paid on maturity

Always sold at discount (lower than par value)

Fixed, periodic interest payment

If exercised

Issuer (repurchase/retire bond)

Flexibility to pay off debt earlier

Protection against interest rate risk

Higher interest rate offered as compensation

Investor loses interest income (reinvestment risk)

Exchange rate- fixed at purchase time

Dual-currency bond- coupon + principal in different currencies from each other

YTM- determines interest/discount rate premium

Analysis

Valuation

Zero-coupon- PV of par value (upon maturity)

PV of future CF/coupon payment + par value (upon maturity)

Discount rate concepts

EAR vs APR

Current yield

Bond equivalent yield- 2x semi-annual discount rate

YTM

YTC (yield to call) value

Duration

EAR (k)- actual return accounting for compounding

APR (r)- quoted rate not accounting compounding

Annualised coupon rate- reflects bond profitability relative to others

Annual coupon rate/current bond market value

Anticipated return (required rate of return)- discount rate that will make PV = current value, accounting for coupon payment reinvestment at a constant interest rate

YTM (accounts for compounded interest) vs. current yield (based on dividends)

Calculated thru trial-and-error

Lower YTM- higher price

For callable bonds

Valuation- assume bond gets called at call price

Time to regain bond price by total CF/initial investment; time needed for investor to be repaid

Measures interest rate risk (bond price sensitivity to interest rate changes)

Macaulay duration- weighted avg term to maturity

Weights- PV of each CF divided by bond price

Modified duration- measures interest rate sensitivity for small interest rate changes; effect of 1% changes in interest rate on bond price

Zero-coupon bond- duration = remaining life (thus, higher interest rate risk)

Types

Options

Positions

Call- buy

Put- sell

Sell option (option writer)- obligated to

Buy option- right to

Forwards

Futures

Swaps

Allows buyer right (not obligation) to buy/sell underlying asset at a given/strike price within specific period

Option premium- option price

Seller (option writer)- obligated to perform upon exercise

Customised futures

Traded OTC

Parties agree on asset specific price on future specific date

Function- hedge against underlying asset price changes

No payment until the specified future date

Types

Deliverable- delivers the actual underlying asset

Cash settled/non-deliverable (NDFs)- difference btw forward + market price of underlying asset paid in cash to other party

Standardised

Traded on exchange- more regulated

Counterparty- clearinghouse (removes counterparty risk) in exchange for a margin (initial and maintenance)

Series of forwards

No payment upon contract, only on the specified/settlement date

Not traded on secondary market

Unregulated- default risks

Participants- institutions

Valuation

Moneyness (if exercise)

Positive payoff- options is "in the money"

Negative payoff- "out of the money"

Current asset price = exercise price- "at the money"

Payoffs (at expiration)

Need to determine firstly if call / put option

Type indicator

Put- -1

Excel function: Max(0, type indicator x (stock price - strike price))

Call- +1

Factors affecting price

Underlying asset

Price

Volatility

Risk-free interest rate

TIme to expiration

Cost, benefits of holding asset

Exercise price

Pricing models

Black-Scholes

Binomial option

Black-Scholes-Merton (BSM)

Usage- European options with dividends

Usage- European options without dividends

Usage- American options

Iterative approach- 2 possible outcomes (price up/down) at each

Binomial tree

Starts with stock price

Shows different possible security price over time