The Price of Risk: Mastering the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
Episode 1259
How do investors determine if a potential return is worth the risk? In this episode, we deconstruct the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), a cornerstone of modern finance used to calculate the theoretically appropriate required rate of return for an asset. We explore how the model separates risk into two categories: "systematic risk" (market risk), which cannot be avoided, and "unsystematic risk," which can be eliminated through diversification.
Key topics covered in this episode:
- The Power of Beta: Understanding how "beta" ($\beta$) measures an asset’s sensitivity to market movements and why high-beta stocks require higher discount rates.
- The Security Market Line (SML): How to visualize risk versus return. We explain why assets plotted above the SML are considered "undervalued" and generate positive "alpha," while those below are seen as overvalued.
- Founding Fathers: The Nobel Prize-winning origins of the model, developed independently by Treynor, Sharpe, Lintner, and Mossin.
- Theory vs. Reality: Why the model remains popular for its simplicity despite failing numerous empirical tests. We discuss major critiques by economists Fama and French, the "low-volatility anomaly," and the unrealistic assumptions of a frictionless market.
- Beyond the Basics: A look at the "Black CAPM" (Zero-beta CAPM), a robust alternative that removes the assumption of risk-free borrowing.
Join us to learn why rational investors should only expect to be rewarded for the risks they cannot diversify away.
Published on 1 day, 12 hours ago