Final answer:
Upon rebalancing a client's portfolio, calculating the new required return depends on the CAPM formula. If the beta does not change, the required return should theoretically remain the same. If Brandon expects lower returns than the required return, the portfolio is overvalued.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Brandon, an analyst at a wealth management firm, considers reallocating funds by replacing Atteric Inc.'s shares with Baque Co., he must consider how the portfolio's required return will change.
The necessary calculation is based on the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) which states that the expected return on a portfolio is equal to the risk-free rate plus the product of the portfolio's beta coefficient and the market risk premium.
The current portfolio's beta is 350.818, and the required return is 8.4990%. If Brandon replaces one stock with another that has the same beta, the portfolio beta will remain the same.
Therefore, when calculating the new required return, if the market conditions (i.e., market risk premium and risk-free rate) do not change, the required return of the portfolio should theoretically remain the same: required return = risk-free rate + (portfolio beta Ă— market risk premium).
However, if he recommends replacing with a stock with a different beta or the market risk premium changes, these would affect the portfolio's required return.
In terms of valuation, if Brandon expects a return of 6.13% from the portfolio with new weights and the required return is 8.4990%, this portfolio would be considered overvalued, because the expected return is less than the required return. Should a stock from Company X with a higher beta than Atteric replace Atteric's stocks, the portfolio's beta will increase, leading to a potentially higher required return due to increased risk.