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ACC515 Accounting and Finance Assignment Help and Solution - Charles Sturt University, Australia

Learning Outcomes - This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:

Be able to evaluate and explain the congruence of accounting, finance and treasury functions.

Be able to explain and critique the objectives of financial management in contemporary organisations.

Be able to critically evaluate mainstream financial theory and concepts.

Be able to discuss and evaluate ethical considerations in financial dealings.

Be able to demonstrate appropriate communication skills in the context of corporate finance.

Be able to demonstrate specific technical competencies and skills in utilising quantitative techniques in financial analysis.

Question 1 - This question relates to material covered in the Topics 1 to 3. This question addresses the 5th and 6th subject learning outcomes. A thorough understanding of financial mathematics forms the basis of all learning in this subject.

For the following numerical problems, detailed worked answers must be shown. This involves providing a brief description of the problem, formulae used, progressive and final answers. For assignments you are expected to show your workings using the appropriate formula entered using the MS Word formula function.

(a) Your daughter has expressed a wish to attend university when she finishes school in five (5) years. You anticipate the cost will be $60,000 at the time she commences university. If your financial institution is offering you 4% pa (compounded monthly), how much do you need to deposit in your account each month in order to save the required amount before your daughter commences university?

(b) You have been offered the opportunity to purchase a start-up company building electric cars for the Australian market called Green Motors P/L. Your initial investment is $22,000,000. The term of the project is 5 years. The project has an expected rate of return of 10% pa. All expected cash flows for the project are below and you have an expected rate of return of 10% pa.

(i) Based on your required rate of return would you purchase this investment? Present all calculations to support your answer.

(ii) Would you change your opinion from (i) if the expected rate of return rose to 15%? Present all calculations to support your answer.

(c) You have commenced work as a certified Financial Planner. Your supervisor has provided the following financial data for a new client Brant Jerome. The client turned 34 years old today and plans to retire when she turns 67. The client owns a diversified share portfolio which is valued today at $47,000. It is expected that this portfolio will earn (on average) 7% per annum indefinitely. Brant also has a superannuation account with a balance of $78,000 to which he currently contributes $1,000 per month. The superannuation account is expected to continue to earn 8% per annum. At his retirement your client plans to consolidate his financial holdings and purchase a monthly annuity as a pension to fund his planned lifestyle. Brant believes he will need to self-fund his retirement until he reaches the age of 85 at which time he would like to have $120,000 remaining to fund any costs not covered by the age pension. During the pension phase of his retirement Brant will adopt a Balanced investment strategy which will return 5% pa (compounded monthly) on his annuity investment.

(i) What will be the value of Brant's financial assets when he retires at age 67? Present all calculations to support your answer.

(ii) What will be the monthly pension amount that Brant will receive on his retirement? Present all calculations to support your answer.

Question 2 - This question relates to material covered in Topic 1 particularly the Australian taxation system and interest rates. This question addresses the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th subject learning outcomes.

Students are expected to conduct their own research and develop their own opinions about the merits of this topic. There is no single correct answer and students will be marked on the depth of their research, the quality of their arguments (for and against), and their demonstrated understanding of the issues involved in this complex area of financial policy. Please refer to the instructions regarding referencing and the risks of plagiarism in the assignment submission instructions.

(a) James is applying for a new home loan. He wishes to borrow $250,000 and make his repayments monthly. The interest rate the bank has quoted him is 4% per annum.

1. Is this the real rate of interest or the notional rate of interest?

2. Explain the difference between the real rate of interest and the notional rate of interest.

3. Calculate the real rate of interest and the notional rate of interest for James.

4. Is it possible for the real rate of interest to equal the notional rate of interest? Explain.

(b) The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced a 0.25% decrease in the cash rate. What effects does this have on the economy and the financial markets? Provide examples of who might benefit from this decrease and those that do not.

Question 3 - This question relates to material covered in Topics 1-5. This question addresses the 1st, 2nd and 3rd subject learning outcomes.

(a) Bradley hates taking risk with his money; "I hate shares and property, I know a lot of people who have lost money in those investments". As a result he will only consider bank guaranteed investments. Bank guaranteed investments are returning 1%. Bradley has a marginal tax rate of 32.5% and pays medicare levy of 2%.

i. Assuming he pays tax at 32.5% plus medicare levy, on the income from his investment, is he preserving the real dollar value of his investment if inflation is 2.5% per annum? Show your workings to justify your answer.

ii. When considering your calculations, how would you explain the benefits of risk to Bradley?

(b) Explain the Australian dividend imputation credit system and how it applies in Australia. Include an analysis of how the receipt of franking credits will result in differing returns for Australian resident and international investors.

(c) Below is the monthly share price data for A2 Milk Company for the 2018 financial year. Note: no dividends were declared for the 2017-18 FY.

i. Calculate the 2017-2018 monthly holding period returns (in both $ and %) for A2M.

ii. Calculate the average monthly return (%) for A2M.

iii. Using the data provided calculate the annual holding period return (in both $ and % terms) for an international (non-Australian) shareholder of A2M.

(d) The monthly data for the Australian All Ordinaries share price index is below:

i. Calculate the monthly holding period returns (%) for the Australian share market (MKT) during 2017-2018 FY.

ii. Calculate the average monthly holding period return (%) for the MKT (ALL ORDS).

iii. Calculate the annual holding period return (in % terms) for the Australian share market (MKT) (as proxied by the All Ords index) during 2017-2018 FY.

iv. Using Excel (XL) prepare a line graph comparing the monthly returns for A2M and the return on the Australian (MKT).

v. Calculate the risk for 2018 as measured by standard deviation of both A2M and the MKT.

vi. According to Reuters Finance A2M Ltd has a Beta of 1.04. In terms of share investment, define what Beta represents. What does A2M's Beta of 1.04 mean? How risky is it?

vii. The average return on the market (MKT) in Australia for the past 10 years has been 9.55%. The yield on Australian 10 year treasury bonds is currently 2.29%. Using these as proxies for the Return on Market (MKT) and Risk Free Rate (Rf), combine them with the A2M Beta (above) and calculate the return expected for A2M using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).

viii. Using the CAPM data from the previous question create an XL scatter plot graph to plot the Security Market Line (SML) using the Risk Free Rate, Return on Market, and A2M as data points.

ix. Recreate the graph from (viii) above but this time also include the actual 2018 returns for A2M and the MKT as previously found (using the same beta measures).

x. Based on your CAPM findings construct a portfolio made up of 40% A2M and 60% MKT. Calculate the estimated return and β for this portfolio.

Attachment:- Accounting and Finance Assignment File.rar