Risk is the potential for an investment to generate more than one return. A security that will produce only one known return is referred to as a risk-free asset, as there is no potential for deviation from the known expected outcome. Investments that have the chance of producing more than one possible outcome are called risky assets. Risk, or potential variability in an investment’s possible returns, occurs when there is uncertainty about an investment’s future outcome, such as the return expected to be generated by the investment and realized by an investor.

As an investor and based on your understanding of risk, which of the following statements is true?

a. S&P 500 companies that are considered to be riskier than the others will have a lower expected rate of return than the others.
b. S&P 500 companies that are considered to be riskier than the others will have a higher expected rate of return than the others.