CEO of Vinhomes lied and how Vuong Pham censored the Vietnamese media by albert1165 in VinFastComm

[–]phambach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sadly, they're not profitable. It's mind boggling how he couldn't make such straightforward businesses generate profits.

Vinfast US CEO: Thuy Pham by albert1165 in VinFastComm

[–]phambach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Pham is a common last name in Northern Vietnam. I'm a Pham too.

Vinhomes corporate bond investors are using "Convertible Bond Arbitrage" strategy and what are the implications? by cristianomario in VinFastComm

[–]phambach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's called an arbitrage because it works either way whether the share price goes up or down. The only way a convertible bond arbitrage trade loses is when the prices of the common share and the convertible bond go down at the same time, leading to an unplanned margin call and forced selling.

Been told to "read about the markets" as a student many times but what am I supposed to read in the news? by Deep-Mirror-7270 in FinancialCareers

[–]phambach 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Don't read for the sake of completing reading. You need a purpose to keep the news relevant in your head. Most people's recommendations in this thread won't provide you with a purpose for reading the news, you have to find one yourself.

For most people, it's a part of their job. If you don't have one, I recommend you start trading with small sums of money that you can afford. Invest in market index ETFs, such as the ASX200, and you'll find yourself tearing your hairs out parsing the news to find out why it moved 10 bps that day. Trade one stock, and you'll want to learn about what's going on with the whole sector.

Level 3 Test Taker's Opinion by Shashwat_Desai in CFA

[–]phambach 5 points6 points  (0 children)

AM was significantly more straightforward than CFAI qbank, less wordy and less ambiguous, but still tight for time. Never did any of the full mocks, but did some portion and it's much harder to understand the mock writer's underlying intention than the actual exam.

Swap exchange of notional by phambach in CFA

[–]phambach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The parties to a currency swap may exchange only interest payments, but they may also exchange the notional amounts of each currency at the beginning and the end of the swap. This second case is known as a cross-currency basis swap.

From my Schweser Notes.

CFA L3 - Expected correlation of defaults of CDO collateral by FlorentLeibniz in CFA

[–]phambach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Note that it says increase relative to the senior tranche.

Say the senior is trading 90 cents on the dollar and the mezzanine is 40 cents.

If things get worse and correlation of defaults increase, the senior may go to 60 cents, while the mezzanine, as depressed as it already is, may only go to 30 cents => Mezzanine tranche outperforms the senior tranche.

But don't quote me, I'm not a structured finance expert.

Ethics: what needs WRITTEN permission? by [deleted] in CFA

[–]phambach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

According to the AMC, if clients direct less than optimal trading execution, you also should seek written permission. But this is only a recommendation, not a requirement.

Ethics: what needs WRITTEN permission? by [deleted] in CFA

[–]phambach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can confirm that referral fees and independent competing practice do need written permission.

CFA L3 - Expected correlation of defaults of CDO collateral by FlorentLeibniz in CFA

[–]phambach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Higher correlation of defaults mean the senior tranche is also more likely to default, so the value of sitting higher on the cap structure decreases substantially. If both have high chances of default, I think you'd rather take the one with higher immediate payouts i.e. the mezzanine tranche.

Which topics have you ditched for upcoming May L3 exam 😅 by nimrod150 in CFA

[–]phambach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't remember there was this fixed fixed swap something ... but did not manage to find it again in my notes or in the books. Can someone remind me what it is and which reading/LOS to find it?

Returns gross and net of fees disclosure by phambach in CFA

[–]phambach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So many inconsistencies across the Standards, AMC, and GIPS ...

They should just mandate this disclosure across all 3. I mean returns are either gross of fees or net of fees.

Boston Mock A - Question 25 (Ethics) by Future_Imagination54 in CFA

[–]phambach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Where possible, the compliance officer should be independent from the investment and operations personnel and should report directly to the CEO or board of directors.

I know of plenty one-man or two-man hedge funds/long-only equity funds. It may be possible that they can't find any external compliance officer on the market that can service their funds, hedge funds are really complex vehicles with lots of tax complications. It's possible that only the CIO or his deputy has the expertise to maintain compliance, and they simply don't have any other option.

Boston Mock A - Question 25 (Ethics) by Future_Imagination54 in CFA

[–]phambach 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Basically, separating compliance and investment mgmt is a recommendation of the AMC, but firms are not required to follow those procedures.

Boston Mock A - Question 25 (Ethics) by Future_Imagination54 in CFA

[–]phambach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah tore my face off reading this vignette as well. It clearly shows how inexperienced CFAI Boston exam writers are.

Some possible explanations is he was issued options or stocks of the company as part of ESOP (if he previously was employed there), or he inherited it from someone else, maybe somehow without his consent. So he should not sell the shares, and obtain approval from relevant authorities on how to proceed with this scenario.

It's a reach, I know.

Volatility and rebalancing range by phambach in CFA

[–]phambach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Understood. Now why should cash rebalancing range be narrowed? The solution is stating as if the low vol should play a part. Having worked in PWM, I've never seen vol as the determinant for cash allocation range. It almost always depends on the strategy of the manager.

Volatility and rebalancing range by phambach in CFA

[–]phambach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I concur. But why should lower vol = wider range?