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The Daily Insight

How do you calculate required rate of return using CAPM?

Author

John Thompson

Published Feb 16, 2026

To calculate RRR using the CAPM:

  1. Subtract the risk-free rate of return from the market rate of return.
  2. Multiply the above figure by the beta of the security.
  3. Add this result to the risk-free rate to determine the required rate of return.

How do you calculate risk free return?

The value of a risk-free rate is calculated by subtracting the current inflation rate from the total yield of the treasury bond matching the investment duration. For example, the Treasury Bond yields 2% for 10 years. Then, the investor would need to consider 2% as the risk-free rate of return.

What risk-free rate should I use?

Your risk free rate of choice should be the opportunity cost of investing in a risk free security of the same time period as the investment of interest. Usually the 10-year T-Bond rate for calculating the cost of a equity on a stock. And shorter RFR maturities for short term stock trading and thus lower COE, natually.

What is a good cost of capital rate?

There is typically lots of debate about this number but generally it falls between 10-12%. The risk-free rate is the return you’d get on a risk-free investment, such as a treasury bill (somewhere between 1-3%).

What is ROIC and how is it calculated?

The ROIC formula is net operating profit after tax (NOPTAT) divided by invested capital. Companies with a steady or improving return on capital are unlikely to put significant amounts of new capital to work.

How do you calculate minimum attractive rate of return?

The formula for MARR is: MARR = project value + rate of interest for loans + expected rate of inflation + rate of inflation change + loan default risk + project risk.

Is a high or low WACC better?

It is essential to note that the lower the WACC, the higher the market value of the company – as you can see from the following simple example; when the WACC is 15%, the market value of the company is 667; and when the WACC falls to 10%, the market value of the company increases to 1,000.

Is return of capital good or bad?

A return of capital (either good ROC or bad ROC) is not generally taxable immediately, but rather reduces the adjusted cost base (ACB) of the units or shares held, thus increasing the amount of capital gain that will be realized when the shares or units are sold or redeemed.