Capital asset pricing model Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
The expected excess return obeys in the mean-variance market model. The beta of an asset is a covariance-to-market-variance ratio.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 23 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The capital asset pricing model givesThus it has the same affine relation between expected returns and a single systematic exposure. When the factor is the market portfolio's excess return, the loadings are the beta of an asset, , and . More generally, for a nondegenerate exact one-factor model and a market portfolio with loading , , and the pricing relation can be rewritten using that exposure.
The interpretations and assumptions differ. The CAPM is an equilibrium relation obtained with a mean-variance optimization framework, common beliefs, and suitable borrowing/lending and market-clearing assumptions. Arbitrage pricing theory uses absence of arbitrage, factor structure, and in realistic models diversification; it does not identify a generic factor with the market portfolio. Moreover the CAPM permits asset-specific risk, whereas the exact model in part (a) has no residual risk. The two formulas coincide for a suitable market factor, but no-arbitrage factor pricing by itself does not establish the CAPM's equilibrium assumptions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 3 26K Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Let initial wealth be and let be the number of units held of risky asset ; the bank investment is . Put . Terminal wealth is normal, with mean and variance . The expectation of the exponential utility isFor and positive definite covariance matrix , maximizing this is equivalent to maximizing the certainty equivalent . Thus the optimal investment isAll investors have proportional risky holdings. A market portfolio can therefore be represented by , with any positive scalar multiple giving the same return. Suppose its initial value is positive and . Set . For returns and ,The beta of an asset is its covariance with the market return divided by the market variance. ConsequentlyThis is the capital asset pricing model. Since , dividing the excess-return identity by gives the Sharpe ratio identityThese ratio statements require nonzero variances and nonzero initial portfolio value. If is singular and is in its range, replace by its pseudoinverse; any kernel holding can be added to an optimizer. If has a component in the kernel, it gives a deterministic excess gain that can be scaled without bound, so there is no finite optimal portfolio. If , there is no distinguished risky market portfolio and its beta ratios are undefined.