Systematisk risk och avkastning på en volatil samt stabil marknad : En undersökning på den svenska aktiemarknaden

Sammanfattning: Background: Since the early 60’s, the CAPM or Capital Asset Pricing Model, has been an invaluable tool for assessing an asset's expected return, assuming that the asset is added to an already well-diversified portfolio of assets. CAPM theory assume that the unsystematic risk can be diversified and that the systematic, market-specific, risk is determined by the Beta value, from the Greek β. An investor who takes big risks expect higher returns. One of the CAPM’s basic assumptions is that disruption in the market is not taken into account. This assumption may lead to results that do not correspond to reality. Objective: This study examined the relationship between systematic risk, and return on a stable and volatile market. Methodology: The study was performed using a quantitative research with secondary data, in which 30 companies listed on the OMX 30 on the Stockholm stock exchange was studied. The investigation period was from 2003 to 2012 and was divided into three parts. Using the statistics program SPSS and Excel the data required to answer the purpose of the essay was calculated. Results: The analysis of the first time period between 2003 and 2007 showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between beta value and the average return for the period. The second time period between 2008 and 2012, which was characterized by an extremely volatile stock market, showed different results. The result of this period showed no statistical relationship existed when the market was characterized by high volatility. The third and final period between 2003 and 2012, which was a combination of a stable and a volatile market. The results for this period showed no significant association between beta value and average returns. The conclusion of this study is therefore that the CAPM model to assess an asset's return fails when the market is unstable, e.g. due to a financial crisis. To compensate for this error that is built into the model, one should therefore use alternative models, or revised versions of the CAPM, if the aim is to produce data in a realistic way that can be used as basis for investment decisions.