Category: Finance

Evaluate the methodologies adopted as well as the results returned by the empirical literature and should focus around FOUR industries. select any four industries;

Intellectual and human capital

a) A critical review of the empirical evidence of the relationship between intellectual (human) capital and corporate performance across industries. Your discussion should evaluate the methodologies adopted as well as the results returned by the empirical literature and should focus around FOUR industries. You may select any four industries;

b) A critical review of the empirical evidence of the relationship between intellectual (human) capital and corporate performance across countries. Your discussion should evaluate the methodologies adopted as well as the results returned by the empirical literature.

c) The competing academic views of how intellectual capital and other intangible assets not recognised within the financial statements can be incorporated into valuation models. Your discussion should cover a range of frameworks that consider intellectual capital in the valuation of firm value;

Explain Green bonds and critically discuss their advantages and disadvantages. What type of investors invest in green bonds? Explain pandemic bonds? Will you recommend these to Jane and John?

Security analysis and portfolio management

Answer Two of the following three questions. Your answer includes a synthesis of recent and seminal academic literature, fully referenced, that relates to the specifics of the question. Clearly indicate what you consider to be the importance of each reference and provide a clear summary and conclusion.

Q (i)
In a sign of growing anxiety among policymakers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the so-called central banks’ bank, warned on Monday (7th December 2020) of the “daylight” between elevated valuations and persistently uncertain economic conditions. “While markets have moved in the right direction in response to news about the vaccine, they are above or close to the levels that prevailed before the pandemic, when questions about overstretched valuations were already present,” said Claudio Borio, head of the BIS monetary and economic department. Critically assess how the financial markets globally reacted to the news of Covid-19 vaccine. (30 marks)

Q (ii) “Returns to Buying Winners and Selling losers have implications for stock market efficiency.” Critically assess what investors should be doing to maximise their total return. (30 marks)

Q (iii)

“According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director: Leading Cryptos Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereom (ETH) and Ripple’s can lead a cashless Society. Critically assess whether crypto industry is developing faster than others or is just a ‘passing fad’. (30 marks)

(Section ‘A’ Total 60 marks)

SECTION B Answer all questions in this section

Q2
Using the resources available in your domestic investment environment select any 4 bonds issued by Government and corporations relevant to you.

. Determine the current yield and yield-to-maturity for each bond. (8 marks)

. Evaluate the investment implications of yield curves. (6 marks)

. Explain factors that affect the price, yield or duration of fixed income securities. (6 marks)
(20 marks)

Q3 You are a portfolio manager for Jane and John:

Jane, age 37, has £40,000 to invest in a fixed-income security. She has invested in various types of bonds for 10 years, she considers herself to be an aggressive investor, and she is in the 28% marginal income tax bracket. Her primary goal is capital appreciation; income is a secondary consideration.

John, age 65, is retiring and has £150,000 to invest. He is interested in purchasing fixed-income securities to provide for his income needs during retirement.

John will not have any other substantial income, and he will be in the 15% marginal income tax bracket. He has invested in bonds in the past, and he plans to be actively involved in this investment.
Required:

Explain Green bonds and critically discuss their advantages and disadvantages. What type of investors invest in green bonds? (10 marks)

Explain pandemic bonds? Will you recommend these to Jane and John? (2 marks)

(c) Discuss the kind of securities is appropriate for Jane and John. (Consider type, risk rating, marginal tax bracket, term, and other relevant factors.)
(8 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

(Section ‘B’Total 40 marks)

[Total 100 marks]

Define what is meant by a universal basic income and explain why the Spanish minimum income described in Extract 1 is not a universal basic income.

Personal finance in context

1.1 If Janet puts her whole pension fund into a drawdown scheme (with annual income at 33% of her pre-retirement gross income), how much income will she receive in her first year?

1.2 If, instead, Janet retires by opting to use her whole pension fund to buy an annuity, how much income would she have available to spend in her first year of retirement?

1.3 Briefly explain why this annuity income will rise if she delays retirement (and annuity purchase) for another two years, to age 68.

1.4 Why does the drawdown option become less attractive if Janet expects to stay in good health, and live a long time into retirement?

1.5 Comment on the certainty or otherwise over the size of Janet’s pension, when she reaches retirement age, if her pension scheme had been defined-benefit instead of defined-contribution?

Question 2
Ada and Steve are a couple with a one-year-old child, Abela. Ada has been on maternity leave and is due to go back to work full time as an antique book publisher.

Steve is employed full time as a gardener. Both parents are below the state pension age and live in the Eden district, in Cumbria. They are looking into arranging Abela’s childcare once Ada starts work again.

Abela can attend a local nursery full time nearby from Monday to Friday, at a cost of £225 per week. Ada also receives child benefit for Abela, equating to £1094.60 per year.

2.1 Steve has the option to work flexibly by halving his hours from 40 to 20 for the next three years. Under this arrangement his monthly gross pay will also halve to £760.

Steve says that if he takes this option, his financial sacrifice might be more than just the £760 per month in lost income over this three-year period.

Identify two factors that might cause Steve to have a much larger financial loss over his lifetime if he takes this option of going part-time.
2.2 Ada earns a gross annual income of £20,400 per year, working 40 hours per week. Her employer introduces changes to working practices that will also allow her to reduce her hours and her pay by up to 50%.

The household is discussing the short-term opportunity costs of Ada taking the part-time (50%) working option, rather than Steve.
With respect to gross earnings, briefly explain the short-term opportunity cost of Ada going part-time as opposed to Steve.

2.3 If Steve decides to take the part-time option, this would reduce his net annual income to £9,120. Ada would continue to receive her full-

time earnings, which equate to £17,512 per year after tax and National Insurance contributions. Abela would then only attend nursery on a part-time basis at a cost of £113 per week.

Using the Tax credit calculator (which I have provided) where appropriate, calculate the couple’s total tax credit entitlement and their net household income after childcare costs.

2.4 The household is also considering a second option, whether Steve should stay in full-time employment, with Abela going to nursery full time.
Using the Tax credit calculator where appropriate, work out their tax credit entitlements and net household income after childcare under this option, and compare the short-term financial situation of the household with the previous option (i.e. Steve going part time; see your answer to Question 2.3).

Question 3
Read the extract (Extract 1), which is about the implementation of Spain’s guaranteed minimum income in the summer of 2020. Then answer the following three questions.
3.1 Define what is meant by a universal basic income and explain why the Spanish minimum income described in Extract 1 is not a universal

basic income.

3.2 Outline two advantages and one disadvantage of a truly universal basic income compared to the Spanish system, for supporting financial well-being.

3.3 Outline what is meant by universal basic services and set out how this differs from a universal basic income.

Write a 2000-word individual report to describe, and discuss how you would develop a coherent funding strategy for the venture, which has the following characteristics:

Raising finance

You have agreed to act as an advisor to ‘ELITE PRO’, a promising early stage technology venture based in the UK. They wish to develop a funding strategy for the next 48 months, at which point they should have achieved break-even.

Write a 2000-word individual report to describe, and discuss how you would develop a coherent funding strategy for the venture, which has the following characteristics:

• Stage – Currently pre-seed, no MVP or evidence (yet) of customer traction

• Team – Two full time co-founders (CEO and CTO) who can survive for 6 months without income.

• Industry – Sports wearables

• Market – B2C, initially targeting competitive cyclists and rowers (assume a SOM of £50m in EU and US combined, CAGR 5%)

• Competitors – No direct competition at present. Substitutes exist but are more expensive.

• I.P. – Yes, 2 patents pending

• Margins – Gross margin 60%, Net margin 25%

• Time to break-even – 48 months

• Total funding required to break even – £1.8m

Specifically, you have been asked to outline suitable funding options and to suggest a timeline together with milestones.

Select an international organisation (of your choice – AIA Singapore) and identify its closest competitor (Prudential Singapore). Present the two organisations and the criteria used for the identification of the competitor.

FInancial Performance Management

Annual Report
AIA Annual Report 2020
Prudential Annual Report_2020

Question 1 (30%).

Select an international organisation (of your choice – AIA Singapore) and identify its closest competitor (Prudential Singapore). Present the two organisations and the criteria used for the identification of the competitor.

Use ratio analysis technique to evaluate the financial performance of the two organizations; draw a comparative evaluation and critically discuss the findings.

You need to access the annual financial statements of the last two years and provide details of the ratio calculations.
It is recommended to use graphs and tables to present your analysis, and cite academic literature.

Question 2 (30%). With reference to relevant literature, critically evaluate Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System.

Develop a proposed Balanced Scorecard to include critical success factors (CSF’s) for AIA Singapore.

Question 3 (30%).

Provide a critical analysis of the benefits and challenges of adopting Integrated Reporting (IR) for your selected organization (AIA Singapore).

Use academic literature and refer to the International Integrated Reporting framework to support your discussion.
Presentation (10%). Mark awarded for presentation refers to overall structure and presentation, academic style of writing, use of Harvard style for references and in text citations.

You need to use a comprehensive range of relevant (academic and professional) sources; use of online sources should be limited and the reliability of the source should be verified.

All sources need to be acknowledged and referenced properly to ensure the originality of the work. The report needs to follow the below structure and address the three questions.

Proposed structure of the Report:
1. Introduction
Introduce the scope and focus of the report (approx. 250 words)

2. Financial Performance using Ratio Analysis
Question 1 (approx. 1,000 words)

3. Balanced Scorecard
Question 2 (approx. 1,000 words)

4. Integrated Reporting
Question 3 (approx. 1,000 words)

5. Conclusions
Provide an overall conclusion based on the reflection from the report (approx. 250 words)

References

Appendix – Provide details on the calculations presented in Question 1.

The proposed structure above intends to provide a recommendation on the structure of the coursework.

This can be enriched with more sections/subsections as you consider appropriate (example abstract, executive summary, table of contents, appendices, etc.).

Consider all of the ratios discussed so far. Is the company’s strength the fact that the debt management ratios are improving? Or is it that the liquidity ratios are increasing? Is the company’s weakness that the turnover ratios are declining? Or is the company’s weakness that debt management ratios are weakening?

Financial Ratio Analysis

Part 1:
A) Summarize the trends in your company’s ratio performance over the 3 most recent years. Be sure to address the following ratios included in Appendix C:

–1.Profitability ratios: ROA, ROE, return on investment (ROI).

–2. Liquidity ratios: quick ratio, current ratio.

–3. Debt management ratios: long-term debt to equity, total debt to equity, interest coverage ratio.

–4. Asset management ratios: total asset turnover, receivables turnover, inventory turnover, and accounts payable turnover.

–5. Per share: book value per share.

Part 2:
A) Interpret whether the trend for each ratio (listed in Part 1) is an improvement or a decline in performance for the company.

B) Create a table that lists each ratio as either a strength or a weakness in the most current year, based on its trend and your interpretation.

C) Determine the overall financial strength of the company based on the ratios identified as either strengths or weaknesses.

–1. Consider all of the ratios discussed so far. Is the company’s strength the fact that the debt management ratios are improving? Or is it that the liquidity ratios are increasing? Is the company’s weakness that the turnover ratios are declining? Or is the company’s weakness that debt management ratios are weakening?

–2. Categorize the company’s overall ratio performance as either strong, neutral, or weak, based on your determination from the ratios.

Part 3:
A) Compare your chosen company’s ratio performance to the industry competitor ratios in the most recent year based on

Appendix D. Be sure to address the following ratios included on Appendix D:

–1. Profitability ratios: ROA, ROE, gross margin, and net margin.

–2. Liquidity ratios: quick ratio and current ratio.

–3. Debt management ratios: long-term debt to equity, total debt to equity, and interest coverage ratio.

–4. Asset management ratios: asset turnover and inventory turnover.

B) Create a table that lists each ratio as either higher or lower than the average ratio for the competitors in the industry.

Part 4:
A) Categorize the company’s overall financial performance as either better than average, average, or worse than average compared to the industry based on the ratios.

B) Interpret which ratios are the most important and explain your reasoning.

C) Justify your conclusion based on the table you created, your interpretation of which ratios are the most important, and the company’s overall ratio performance compared to the industry competitors.

Write a paper on comparison analysis on tesla.template is uploaded to show what is needing to be wrote about as well as the excel sheet that will need to have the data filled out on the ratios (first sheet) also uploaded all the information needed as well.

Have to fill out a excel sheet to help write a paper on comparison analysis on tesla.template is uploaded to show what is needing to be wrote about as well as the excel sheet that will need to have the data filled out on the ratios (first sheet) also uploaded all the information needed as well.

Discuss some of the factors, including environmental, sustainable, and governance (ESG) factors, that you believe have impacted the stock performance and why

 Discussion: Understanding Pricing of a Stock

You may have seen how financial news outlets provide real-time financial market reporting.

They often produce stock-market news feeds for traders; these news feeds include a stock chart.

The stock chart may include different filters that allow you to see how the stock is performing today or has performed over one or more years.

There are many factors that will influence pricing that can’t be controlled or predicted accurately.

The approaches used to value stocks (determine what the stock is truly worth) are usually theoretical. You should consider what drives stock prices and why.

For this discussion, first go to Mergent Online. Find the pricing chart under the “Company Details” tab, then click on Pricing Summary for your selected company.

This is the company you have selected for your Project Two assignment. Filter the time period to one year.

In your initial post, address the following:

• Discuss how the stock for your company is trending. Explain why the stock is in either an uptrend or downtrend. •

Discuss some of the factors, including environmental, sustainable, and governance (ESG) factors, that you believe have impacted the stock performance and why

. • Convince your peers to either invest in your chosen company or to not invest in the company. Explain your reasoning.

In your response posts to at least two peers, discuss the following:

• Do you agree with your peer’s argument to either invest or not invest in their company? Explain why or why not, making sure to also include information not previously shared by your peer.

Evaluate the potential impact (social, environmental) of your business on different types of stakeholders. 20%

Financial sustainability

Paper detalis:

ask: Develop a business plan for a social enterprise.
Required:

Produce a PowerPoint presentation of maximum 8 slides outlining the following:

1. Clear and concise presentation of the social problem (justifying the need for a social enterprise).

2. Clear presentation of your business idea, social purpose, business model and description of product(s)/service(s).

3. Present potential sources of start-up finance and subsequent revenue streams.

4. Evaluate the potential impact (social, environmental) of your business on different types of stakeholders.

Each slide will be accompanied by 50-100 (max) word notes to explain the context.

The key aspects of the business idea and the business plan (listed above) will be tied together and further expanded on in a 1000 words paper.

Submission will be on Turnitin in ONE PDF file (Word document converted to PDF) which will include: the slides (as images/printscreens) with relevant notes, followed by the 1000 word paper explaining the business idea in more depth.

The work will be marked based on the following marking criteria:

Description Weighting

Clear and concise presentation of the social problem (justifying the need for a social enterprise). 25%

Clear presentation of your business idea, social purpose, business model and description of product(s)/service(s). 25%

Present potential sources of start-up finance and subsequent revenue streams. 20%

Evaluate the potential impact (social, environmental) of your business on different types of stakeholders. 20%
Presentation (quality of slides, written work, referencing – HRS) 10%
Total 100%
Weighting: 20%

What are the advantages and the disadvantages of a merger? In your response, provide an example of either – a merger that was successful, or one that was unsuccessful.

As part of the financial planning process, a common practice in the corporate finance world is restructuring through the process of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

It seems that on a regular basis, investment bankers arrange M&A transactions, forming one company from separate companies. What are the advantages and the disadvantages of a merger? In your response, provide an example of either – a merger that was successful, or one that was unsuccessful. (title page, abstract and reference page not included in word count)