a. Portfolio expected return is
= weight in big toys *return on big toys + weight in chemical industries*return on chemical industries
=0.62*0.10 + 0.38*0.12
=0.062 + 0.0456
=10.76%
portfolio standard deviation :
= root over of [ (w1)^2* variance of big toys + (w2)^2*variance of chemical industries + 2 *W1*W2*CORRELATION BETWEEN BIG TOYS AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES*standard deviation of big toys*standard deviation of chemical industries]
=(0.62)^2*(0.218)^2 + (0.38)^2* (0.277)^2 + 2 * 62*0.38*0.31*0.218*0.277
=0.0183+ 0.0111 + 0.0088
=19.55%
b. Portfolio expected return will be the same = 10.76%
The standard deviation will be :
root over of [(0.62)^2*(0.218)^2 + (0.38)^2*(0.277)^2 + 2 *0.62*0.38*0.81*0.218*0.277]
=0.0183 + 0.0111 + 0.0230
=22.9%
c. the lower the correlation, between the assets the higher will be the benefits and lower will be the standard deviation.
The difference is due to the, the higher correlation, which resulted in a higher standard deviation,