D4) Omar is an Australian investor whose portfolio only includes Australian assets (Cash, Australian fixed interest, Australian listed shares and Australian property). He is now considering adding international equities in his portfolio. Explain advantages and disadvantages of investing in international or foreign equities.

Suppose you are a British venture capitalist holding a major stake in an e-commerce start-up in Silicon Valley. As a British resident, you are concerned with the pound value of your U.S. equity position. Assume that if the American economy booms in the future, your equity stake will be worth $1,001,280, and the exchange rate will be $1.4/£. If the American economy experiences a recession, on the other hand, your American equity stake will be worth $501,440, and the exchange rate will be $1.6/£. You assess that the American economy will experience a boom with a 40 percent probability and a recession with a 60 percent probability. a. Estimate your exposure to the exchange risk. (Do not round intermediate calculations.) Exposure b. Compute the variance of the pound value of your American equity position that is attributable to the exchange rate uncertainty. (Do not round intermediate calculations.) Variance

Investment advisors recommend risk reduction through international diversification. International investing allows you to take advantage of the potential for growth in foreign economies, particularly in emerging markets. Janice Wong is considering investment in either Europe or Asia. She has studied these markets and believes that both markets will be influenced by the U.S. economy, which has a 21% chance for being good, a 52% chance for being fair, and a 27% chance for being poor. Probability distributions of the returns for these markets are given in the accompanying table. Return Rates in Europe: Good, 10%; Fair, 4%; Poor, -3% Return Rates in Asia: Good, 24%; Fair, 4%; Poor, -18% a. Find the expected value and the standard deviation of returns in Europe and Asia. (Round intermediate calculations to at least 4 decimal places and final answers to 2 decimal places.)

Suppose you are a British venture capitalist holding a major stake in an e-commerce start-up in Silicon Valley. As a British resident, you are concerned with the pound value of your U.S. equity position. Assume that if the American economy booms in the future, your equity stake will be worth $1001, and the exchange rate will be $1.28/£. If the American economy experiences a recession, on the other hand, your American equity stake will be worth $792, and the exchange rate will be $1.45/£. You assess that the American economy will experience a boom with a 70 percent probability and a recession with the remaining probability.Estimate the Covariance between P and S