Does anyone know why you multiply the short futures position by 25 instead of 100 in this question from Mock 2014 version C?
Client A has a $20 million technology equity portfolio. At the beginning of the previous quarter, Allison forecasted a weak equity market and recommended adjusting the risk of the portfolio by reducing the portfolio’s beta from 1.20 to 1.05. To reduce the beta, Allison sold NASDAQ 100 futures contracts at $124,450 on 25 December. During the quarter, the market decreased by 3.5%, the value of the equity portfolio decreased by 5.1%, and the NASDAQ futures contract price fell from $124,450 to $119,347. Client A has questioned the effectiveness of the futures transaction used to adjust the portfolio beta.
1.) With respect to Client A, Allison’s most appropriate conclusion is the futures transaction used to adjust the beta of the portfolio was: A. ineffective because the effective beta on the portfolio was 1.27.
The effective beta is the (hedged) return on the portfolio divided by the return on the market. The return on the market is –3.5%. The return on the portfolio is –5.1% plus the return on the futures position. The return on the (short) futures position relative to the unhedged portfolio is –25 × (119,347 – 124,450)/20,000,000 = +0.0064. Effective beta = (–0.051 + 0.0064)/–0.035 = 1.27.