Chapter 1: Capital Market Flashcards
(29 cards)
3 Components of wealth transfer process
- Financial instruments (what is actually bought/sold)
- Financial markets (facilitate buying/selling of 1)
- Financial intermediaries (people/companies involved in 1 and 2)
Capital
savings of individuals, corporations, and governments
Direct Investment
assets that generate wealth (land, real estate, equipment, etc)
Indirect Investment
- Financial assets: stocks (ownership of company), bonds (debt of company or government), treasury bills (debt of government)
- Companies and governments issue these financial assets and receive funds. The funds are used to invest in the funds directly
- Investors buy these financial assets to generate a return
Efficient Allocation of Capital
Capital is mobile, scarce and sensitive (those who have capital will only transfer/invest if it is easy, cheap, and generates good return)
Capital Flow Depends on…
- Political environment
- Economic trends
- Fiscal policy (government spending and taxation)
- Monetary policy (government by central banks)
- Investment opportunities
- Labour force (highly educated/laws governing rights of labour force)
Sources of Capital
Retail, institutional and foreign investors provide capital
Retail Investors
Individuals
Institutional Investors
pension funds and mutual funds
Foreign Investors
- foreign retail, institutional and government investors
- Investments are made directly in Canadian firms or through stocks/bonds for Canadian firms listed on foreign exchanges
Financial Instruments
mechanisms by which wealth/capital is transferred (what is actually bought/sold)
Debt
- Funds are borrowed
- At specific date (“maturity date”) these funds are paid back
- Between the borrowing and maturity date, interest payments are paid
Equity
- Typically represented by stock/shares in a company
- As equity investor, you own part of the company
- At annual meetings, you have voting rights
- May receive regular dividend payments (not necessarily)
Investment Funds
buys and sells stocks/bonds (typically through mutual funds)
Derivatives
these products derive their value from another asset (stock, bond, commodity, currency) often used for hedging (ex. Mitigate the effect of a strong C$ or higher oil prices)
Private Equity
- invest in both debt and equity
- typically investments are made directly in companies (not through stock or bonds)
- Funds are provided by pension funds, endowments, and wealthy individuals
Efficient market properties
- Fast (can I buy / sell a stock with minimal delay)
- Cheap (low fees to buy / sell)
- Liquid (are there many buyers and sellers)
- Ex. Buying or selling a house may not be efficient, buying or selling a stock or a bond should be
Primary Markets
- Securities (shares or bonds) are sold by issuers for the first time
- Issuer receives the money from this sale
- May be an IPO or subsequent equity offering
Secondary Markets
- Where securities previously issued (above primary markets) are bought and sold (funds do not go to the issuer)
- Ex. If I buy 100 shares of TD bank on the TMX today - the funds go to the shareholder who sold me the shares (not TD)
IPO (Initial Public Offering)
first time a company sells its shares to the public and the shares are listed on the stock exchange
Auction Market
like any other market where items are bought and sold. A stock exchange is an auction market where stocks are bought and sold (all transactions converge in one location).
How does the stock exchange make money?
- Transaction fees (you pay a fee when buying or selling a stock)
- Initial listing fees (company conducts IPO they pay a fee)
- Fees from companies making capital structure changes
- Sale of historic data
Trends in stock exchanges
- Stock exchanges have largely transferred from physical locations to trading systems (speed and cost efficiency are crucial)
- Stock exchanges around the world have been joining together (through mergers & acquisitions) to become “bigger and better”
Financial Intermediaries
People and companies that improve market efficiency by facilitating the flow of capital from buyers to sellers
- May work in their self interest
- Regulations are meant to be structured such that marker efficiency is a by-product of this self interest
- The financial crises exposed areas where firms were working in their self interest and also working against market efficiency/product economy