Suppose that a life insurance company sells a five-year guaranteed investment contract that guarantees an interest rate of 7.5% per year on a bond-equivalent yield basis (or equivalently, 3.75% every six months for the next 10 six-month periods). Also suppose that the payment made by the policyholder is $9,642,899. Consider the following three investments that can be made by the portfolio manager: Bond X: Buy $9,642,899 par value of an option-free bond selling at par with a 7.5% yield to maturity that matures in five years. Bond Y: Buy $9,642,899 par value of an option-free bond selling at par with a 7.5% yield to maturity that matures in 12 years. Bond Z: Buy $10,000,000 par value of a six-year 6.75% coupon option-free bond selling at 96.42899 to yield 7.5%. Answer the below questions. (a) Holding aside the spread that the insurance company seeks to make on the invested funds, demonstrate that the target accumulated value to meet the GIC obligation five years from now is $13,934,413.

Suppose we are in 2022. An insurer has to make a guaranteed payment to a policyholder in five years (2027) of $1,469, a lump-sum policy payout on retirement, equivalent to investing $1,000 at an annually compounded rate of 8 percent over five years. To protect itself, the insurer has bought a six-year maturity bond paying 8% annual coupons with an 8% YTM that has a duration of 4.993 or approximately 5 years. The face value of this bond is $1000. If the interest rates fall to 7%. At the end of fifth year, which of the following statements is FALSE?A.The insurer receives the proceeds from selling the bond at the end of fifth year of $1,009B.The insurer receives an reinvestment income of $60.C.The insurer has matched the maturity of its liabilties with that of its assets. D.The insurer receives coupons of $400.E.The insurer is immunized from interest rate risk.

An investor is considering adding three new securities to her internationally focused fixed income portfolio. She considers the following non-callable securities:1-year government bond10-year government bond10-year BBB rated corporate bondShe plans to invest equally in all three securities being analyzed or will invest in none of them at this time. She will only make the added investment provided that the expected spread/premium of the equally weighted investment is at least 1.5 percent (150bp) over the 1-year government bond. She has gathered the following information:Risk free interest rate (1-year, incorporating 0.6% inflation expectation) 1.0%Term premium (10-year vs. 1-year government bond) 1%10-year BBB credit premium (over 10-year government bond) 75bpEstimated liquidity premium on 10-year corporate bonds 55bpUsing only the information given, address the following problems using the risk premium approach:Question

Exactly one year ago, an investor purchased a $100 face value zero coupon bond with 4 years to maturity. The market yield to maturity at that time was 6% p.a. compounded semi-annually. Now, one year later, with the market yield to maturity decreases to 5% p.a., the same investor purchases another security that pays a stream of cash flows of $3 every six months for 3 years and with no face value. The combined current value of both investments (i.e., the zero coupon bond bought one year ago and the new security bought today) based on the current market yield to maturity is likely to be:A.ZeroB.Greater than the par valueC.Less than the par valueD.Equal to the par value

A pension plan is obligated to make disbursements of $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, and $1 million at the end of each of the next four years, respectively. If the plan wants to fully fund and immunise its position, how much of its portfolio should it allocate to one-year zero-coupon bonds and perpetuities, respectively, if these are the only two assets funding the plan? Assume the interest rate is 10% annually. Group of answer choicesDuration is 2.6019Duration is 2.7329Duration is 2.6873Duration is 2.5871

Which of the following is correct for a bond investor whose bond offers a 5% current yield and an 8% yield to maturity?Select one:a.The bond is selling at a discount to par value.b.The bond has a high default premium.c.The promised yield is not likely to materialize.d.The bond must be a Treasury Inflation-Protected Security.