Recently interest rates have gone up. Your customer, Mr. Corelli, has asked you how this will affect the value of his mortgage fund. What is the best response to give to Mr. Corelli?
Correct Answer: B
Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract: Fixed-income securities, including mortgage funds, decrease in value when interest rates rise because existing mortgages with lower rates become less attractive compared to new, higher-yielding mortgages. The feedback from the document states: "Fixed-income securities move in the opposite direction to market interest rates... Let's assume you are the fund manager for a mortgage mutual fund, which has mortgages paying 5%. If mortgage rates suddenly increase to 6%, only the interest rates on newly negotiated mortgages would increase... The investor would not pay you par for a 5% rate. If you wished to sell the mortgages, then you would have to lower your price until the price paid-given the 5% fixed payments to be made-results in a return to the buyer of 6%, the 'going rate' on mortgages. In other words, the market value of your par value mortgages must fall." Reference:Chapter 11 - Conservative Mutual Fund ProductsLearning Domain:Analysis of Mutual Funds
IFC Exam Question 87
Natasha currently owns 2 mutual funds: a bond fund and a Canadian equity fund. She would like to use one of them as her registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contribution for the year. From a tax efficiency perspective, which mutual fund should she contribute?
Correct Answer: B
The bond fund should be contributed to Natasha's RRSP from a tax efficiency perspective, because interest income from bonds is fully taxable at her marginal tax rate outside of an RRSP. By contributing the bond fund to her RRSP, Natasha can defer paying tax on the interest income until she withdraws it from her RRSP in retirement, when she may be in a lower tax bracket. The equity fund should be kept outside of her RRSP, because dividends and capital gains from equities receive preferential tax treatment compared to interest income. Dividends qualify for the dividend tax credit and capital gains are only 50% taxable. Furthermore, equities tend to have higher returns than bonds over the long term, which means that Natasha would have more after-tax income by keeping them outside of her RRSP. References: Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), Does it pay to invest in an RRSP? Here's the math
IFC Exam Question 88
Daisy is a Dealing Representative registered in the province of Saskatchewan only. Daisy's client, Orville, a resident of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan is a retiree who presently has a $1,000,000 with her dealer, Easy Ride Financial. Orville is now planning to move to Vegreville, Alberta next month. Easy Ride Financial is registered in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Neither Easy Ride Financial nor Daisy have any clients who are resident in Alberta. Which of the following should Daisy do if she wants to continue to service Orville's account?
Correct Answer: B
Daisy could seek permission from her dealer to request a client mobility exemption with the Alberta Securities Commission. This exemption allows a registered individual in one jurisdiction to service a client who moves to another jurisdiction, without having to register in the new jurisdiction, subject to certain conditions. Some of these conditions are that the individual must be registered with a dealer that is registered in both jurisdictions, the individual must not have more than five clients in the new jurisdiction, and the individual must notify the regulator in the new jurisdiction of the exemption. References: Client Mobility Exemption
IFC Exam Question 89
Which person would be categorized as a vulnerable client?
Correct Answer: B
A vulnerable client is a client who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to harm or disadvantage when dealing with financial services. Vulnerability can be permanent or temporary, and can arise from various factors, such as physical or mental health conditions, cognitive impairments, low financial literacy, language barriers, abuse, or discrimination. A vulnerable client may have different needs and challenges than other clients, and may require more support and protection from their adviser. Ginger would be categorized as a vulnerable client because she has reached retirement age and is easily confused, which may affect her ability to understand and make informed decisions about her financial situation. She may also be at risk of being exploited or misled by others who may take advantage of her confusion. Therefore, Ginger' s adviser should take extra care to ensure that she is treated fairly and that her best interests are served. Canadian Investment Funds Course, Chapter 8: Suitability and Know Your Client1
IFC Exam Question 90
Which of the following statements about standard deviation is CORRECT?
Correct Answer: A
The correct answer is A. Indicates how much an investment's performance fluctuates around its average historical return. Standard deviation is a measure of how spread out the data points are from the mean value. It is calculated as the square root of the variance, which is the average of the squared differences from the mean. Standard deviation can be used to assess the volatility or risk of an investment by showing how much the returns deviate from the expected or average return. A higher standard deviation means that the investment has a wider range of possible outcomes, which implies more uncertainty and risk. A lower standard deviation means that the investment has a narrower range of possible outcomes, which implies more stability and consistency. B). A standard deviation greater than one indicates a higher level of volatility than the market. This statement is incorrect because the standard deviation of an investment is not directly comparable to the standard deviation of the market, unless they have the same mean return. The standard deviation of an investment only measures the absolute variation of the returns, not the relative variation to the market. A better measure of the relative volatility of an investment to the market is beta, which is the ratio of the covariance of the investment and the market to the variance of the market. C). Measures the systematic risk of an investment relative to a benchmark index. This statement is incorrect because the standard deviation of an investment does not distinguish between the systematic risk and the unsystematic risk. The systematic risk is the risk that affects the entire market or a large segment of the market, such as inflation, interest rates, or political events. The unsystematic risk is the risk that affects a specific investment or a small group of investments, such as management decisions, product quality, or lawsuits. The standard deviation of an investment captures both types of risk, whereas the beta of an investment only captures the systematic risk. D). Standard deviation is also referred to as beta. This statement is incorrect because standard deviation and beta are different measures of risk. Standard deviation measures the absolute variation of the returns of an investment, whereas beta measures the relative variation of the returns of an investment to the market. Standard deviation is a measure of total risk, whereas beta is a measure of systematic risk.