Forums › Ask ACCA Tutor Forums › Ask the Tutor ACCA AFM Exams › VAR value at risk calculation
- This topic has 20 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by John Moffat.
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- May 24, 2014 at 12:57 pm #170502
Dear Tutor,
Can we be expected to calculate VAR. If yes, then how should we do it.
In 2012 Jun. q. 4 part c, I can’t figure it out how did they come up with the standard deviation from the mean of 2.33 for the 99% confidence level.Thanks for your continuous support.
May 24, 2014 at 2:32 pm #170519Hi you have to deduct 1/100=.001 from 0.500=0.490
Look in the tables for value closest to this which is between 2.3. and 2.4. hope this helps.May 24, 2014 at 7:25 pm #170560furhana: thank you for answering, but this is the Ask the Tutor Forum (and the tutor is me). Please restrict yourself to answering in the normal P4 forum.
dan1liy: furhana is almost correct.
At 99%, we want to find the number of standard deviations away from the average, such that there is a 1% chance of being further away. Because 50% are below the average, then it means be need to be 49% away from the average (so there is 1% chance of being further away. So……we need a number of standard deviations that gives an answer from the tables of 49% or 0.49. (It is hard to explain this without showing a graph – if it does not make sense the if you download my P4 revision notes you will see a page about VaR towards the end of the notes)
In the tables, if you look up 2.33, it gives an answer of 0.4901, which is close enough 🙂The only other likely confidence level is 95%. Using the same logic as above, we want an answer from the tables of 45% or 0.45. 1.64 gives an answer of 0.4505, which is close enough. (The examiner often uses 1.645 because 1.65 gives an answer of 0.4495 and so it is approximately half way between the two)
May 25, 2014 at 1:51 am #170575Thank you very much.
I am about to start the revision.
May 25, 2014 at 7:37 am #170590You are welcome 🙂
May 25, 2014 at 12:57 pm #170672DearTutor,
What is the chance of VAR being examined and equity valuation using black and scholes.
Thanks
May 25, 2014 at 1:00 pm #170676Well….they both have a reasonable chance. Thats all I can say Im afraid!
May 26, 2014 at 3:13 pm #170946Thank you Sir, the revision notes are really good and concise.
I do still struggle understanding q4 part c in Jun2012 paper. The answer arrives to a 5 year VAR by multiplying the annual VAR by 5^1/2. Why not simply multiply by 5?
Appreciate your time and help.
May 26, 2014 at 7:04 pm #171036The reason is that we cannot add standard deviations, we can only add variances.
The variance is the standard deviation squared.
So……for example, if the annual standard deviation is 10.
Then the annual variance is 10^2.
So the 5 year variance would be 5 x 10^2So the 5 year standard deviation will be the square root of (5 x 10^2) which is (square root of 5) x 10.
May 27, 2014 at 12:54 pm #171155Thank you, it is clear now.
Moving on to P5 revision :0)
May 27, 2014 at 2:06 pm #171169You are welcome:-)
October 13, 2014 at 9:30 pm #204360AnonymousInactive- Topics: 0
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Hi John,
Thanks for your earlier answer, but i m still not getting it. The answer to Jun 12, Q 4c givesan annual VAR @ 1,864,000. And in order to multiply it for the 5 year period the examiner multiplied 1,864,000 * 5^1/2..
Why not 1,864,000^1/2 * 5??October 13, 2014 at 9:42 pm #204362The annual standard deviation is 800,000.
So the annual variance is (800,000)^2
So the 5 year variance is 5 x (800,000)^2
The 5 year standard deviation is therefore the square root of that.
The square root of 5 is 5^1/2. The square root of (800,000)^2 is 800,000
So the 5 year standard deviation is 5^1/2 x 800,000
October 15, 2014 at 2:25 pm #204497Dear tutor
May be u can advise where I can read about VaR in more details. It is difficult topic for me and I can’t catch it.
October 15, 2014 at 4:36 pm #204508There is a brief page about it in the free revision notes that you can download.
I will write a full chapter on it when I have time, but that will not be for several weeks.
Otherwise it means reading your Study Text, or if you search on Google you will find many articles about it.
August 21, 2015 at 9:04 am #267936Could you please assist with this question :a manufacturing company, based in a country whose currency is the F$. All of F’s sales are within its home country. F imports raw material from Country G, where the currency is the G$.
F’s treasury department manages the currency risks associated with F’s imports and generally buys G$ forward in anticipation of making payments for identified purchases of materials. F’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) recently received a telephone call from the company’s bank to confirm that an order for a large forward purchase had been completed. The CFO was surprised by the size of the purchase and asked F’s treasurer to comment.
F’s treasurer has become an expert on the exchange rate for the G$. She believes that the forward rate offered by the currency markets was unduly generous and so she bought G$6million forward at a rate of G$/F$ 3.00 which means 1 G$ = 3.00 F$. This was in addition to the purchase of the G$500,000 that F requires to meet its commitments to suppliers.
F’s treasury department is expressly forbidden to take open positions in foreign currencies. The head of internal audit interviewed the treasurer, who explained that she had entered into this position because she believed that it was an opportunity for F to make a profit from her expertise. It was clear that she had not intended to defraud F in any way because the transaction had been recorded correctly.
The Head of Internal Audit reported the facts to F’s directors, who suspended the treasurer on full pay pending a more detailed investigation, including an evaluation of whether F makes a gain or a loss from this position.
F’s CFO is uncertain about whether to cancel this position by selling G$ forward. At present, the exchange rate is G$/F$ 3.10. The forward rate on offer for the maturity date of the open position is G$/F$ 3.20. There are 56 days to go until the open forward purchase matures.
The daily volatility of the G$/F$ exchange rate is 1.2%.
F has approached an economics professor at a local university. The professor has prepared two scenarios concerning potential movements on the exchange rate:
• One possible scenario is that credit agencies will devalue G’s sovereign debt, which would weaken the currency significantly, perhaps to as little as G$/F$ 2.50.
• An alternative scenario is that G’s government could pre-empt the possibility of a devaluation by announcing significant economic measures that could strengthen the rate to anything up to G$/F$3.40.REQUIRED:
(a) (i) Calculate the 56-day 95% value at risk (VaR), in F$, for the position held by F. (4)
(ii) Calculate the potential gains and losses implied by each of the economic professor’s scenarios. (2)
(iii) Discuss the relevance of the analysis commissioned from the economics professor relative to the VaR calculated in (i) above.August 21, 2015 at 9:09 am #267937I am sorry but we really can’t provide answers to full questions like this.
We do have free lectures that cover the relevant topics which should help you.
Also, you presumably have an answer in the same book in which you found the question. If you do understand any particular point in the answer then do ask again. We will certainly try to help with any specific problems.
November 3, 2015 at 6:49 am #280169which chapter covers VaR in your notes?
November 3, 2015 at 7:07 am #280173It is a separate lecture and note from the main Lecture Notes (you should not use the lecture notes without watching the lectures).
You can find it linked from the main page listing the lectures:
https://opentuition.com/acca/p4/acca-p4-lectures/April 25, 2019 at 6:26 am #514046From Dec’14 Q4b, at confidence level of 95%, the examiner uses 1.282. Can i use either 1.28 or 1.285 (which is between 0.4015 & 0.3997) instead?
April 25, 2019 at 2:27 pm #514110Yes you can. If your workings are clear then you will still get full marks.
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