preview

The Capital Asset Pricing Model

Better Essays

Introduction
The Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”) was introduced by Sharpe (1964), Lintner (1965) and Mossin (1966) to provide investor an understanding in relation to the expected returns of their investment. However, this theory has been criticised by some empirical models resulted from the unrealistic assumptions. This paper will critically analyse the limitation of the CAPM and will discuss Arbitrage Pricing Theory (“APT”) and Fama-French (“FF”) Three-Factor Model (“TFM”) as the possible alternative empirical approaches.
This paper will be organised as follows: Section one: Introduction; Section two: An overview of CAPM and its limitations; Section three: An overview of APT and TFM and how to overcome CAPM limitations; Section four: Conclusion.

Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”)
CAPM is simple period model that demonstrates the linear relationship between systematic risk of an asset and expected market return. The formula of CAPM is
E(ri)=r_f+βi[E(rm)-r_f]
Where:
E(ri)=Required return on asset i r_f=Rate risk-free of the return βi=Beta of asset i
E(rm)= Average return of market

The general idea behind CAPM is that investors need to be compensated in two ways: time value of money and risk. The time value of money is represented by the risk-free rate (r_f) in the formula and compensates the investors for placing money in any investment over a period of time. The other half of the formula represents risk and calculates the amount of compensation

Get Access