1.The sales literature of a mutual fund claims that the fund has no risk exposure since it invests exclusively in federal government securities which are free of default risk. Is this claim true? Explain why or why not.
　　Although the fund's asset portfolio is comprised of securities with no default risk, the securities are exposed to interest rate risk. For example, if interest rates increase, the market value of the fund's Treasury security portfolio will decrease. Further, if interest rates decrease, the realized yield on these securities will be less than the expected rate of return because of reinvestment risk. In either case, investors who liquidate their positions in the fund may sell at a Net Asset Value (NAV) that is lower than the purchase price.
　　2.Two 10-year bonds are being considered for an investment that may have to be liquidated before the maturity of the bonds. The first bond is a 10-year premium bond with a coupon rate higher than its required rate of return, and the second bond is a zero-coupon bond that pays only a lump-sum payment after 10 years with no interest over its life. Which bond would have more interest rate risk? That is, which bond’s price would change by a larger amount for a given change in interest rates? Explain your answer.
　　The zero-coupon bond would have more interest rate risk. Because the entire cash flow is not received until the bond matures, the entire cash flow is exposed to interest rate changes over the entire life of the bond. The cash flows of the coupon-paying bond are returned with periodic regularity, thus allowing less exposure to interest rate changes. In effect, some of the cash flows may be received before interest rates change.
　　3.Consider again the two bonds in problem 9. If the investment goal is to leave the assets untouched until maturity, such as for a child’s education or for one’s retirement, which of the two bonds has more interest rate risk? What is the source of this risk?
　　In this case the coupon-paying bond has more interest rate risk. The zero-coupon bond will generate exactly the expected return at the time of purchase because no interim cash flows will be realized. Thus, the zero-coupon bond has no reinvestment risk. The coupon-paying bond faces reinvestment risk each time a coupon payment is received. The results of reinvestment will be beneficial if interest rates rise, but decreases in interest rate will cause the realized return to be less than the expected return.