Monday, November 7, 2011

Please explain the this volatility paradox?

We will use 2 mutual funds to illustrate this paradox. Fund A contains a # of stocks which ulatively fluctuate by 10% each day. The fluctuations always reverse from the previous day so that a 10% rise is always followed by a 10% decline, which is followed by a 10% rise and so on. Fund B contains the same balance of stocks however exposure is increased by a factor of 2 due to borrowing (ume no borrowing costs). So Fund B fluctuates in parallel with Fund A except each day it is up by 20%, down by 20%, etc. Now, here comes the paradox. Over time Fund B will perform more poorly than Fund A. Also, BOTH funds will trend downward. I understand the math of how this happens, but intuitively I cannot grasp how this can be. Can someone please give me an intuitive explanation? Thx

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