Final answer:
The relationship between the average return and historical volatility differs between individual stocks and well-diversified portfolios, with individual stocks having higher volatility. Well-diversified portfolios, on the other hand, tend to have lower volatility due to the mitigating effect of diversification.
Step-by-step explanation:
The relationship between the average return and the historical volatility of individual stocks is different from the relationship between the average return and the historical volatility of large, well-diversified portfolios.
Individual stocks tend to have higher historical volatility compared to well-diversified portfolios. This is because individual stocks are more susceptible to idiosyncratic risks, such as company-specific news or events, which can result in larger fluctuations in stock prices.
In contrast, well-diversified portfolios contain a mix of different stocks, which helps to reduce the impact of idiosyncratic risks. As a result, the historical volatility of well-diversified portfolios is generally lower than that of individual stocks.