User Account

All Pages

Portfolio Management, Financial Management

Assignment Help:
Portfolio Project
The purpose of this project is to help you to gain an understanding of how the stock market works and of the relationship between theory and practice.

You are given a notional £200,000 to invest and manage. You are required to follow an active trading policy at least in the first term. In the second term you can follow a buy and hold policy. Shares must be bought in multiples of 100 if the price is less than £2 and in multiples of 50 if the price is greater than £2. Debentures and Government stocks, which have a nominal value of £100 each, may be bought without restriction.

Commission is payable on all purchases and sales, at the following rates:

Ordinary Shares 1.0% of value (minimum: £10)
Government Securities 0.7% of value (minimum: £12.50)

You may invest in overseas securities, though all transactions must be in £ Sterling.

Transfer stamp duty is payable on all share purchases: the rate is £0.50 for every £100 or fractional part of £100.

There are no overdraft facilities nor additional sources of finance. Your cash balance must not become negative.

You are required to liquidate your holdings by Friday 22 March, 2013, and to submit your portfolio project, together with your transactions table, by Friday 29 March, 2013. When writing up the project, there is no need to describe every single transactions you have entered into (though every transaction should be listed in your transaction sheet). You should:

(i) Outline the portfolio theory that you have applied in your project.

(ii) Carefully explain your investment policy, giving examples of how you implemented it and explaining how and why it changed over the life of the project (if it did);

(iii)Explain carefully what brought about the changes (for example, knowledge you gained on the course or from practical experience);

(iv) Comment on your findings.

(v) Comment on the divergence between the theory you have learnt on the course and the practical problems of implementation;
(vi) Comment on the performance of the stock market in general and on what you think has influenced it over the life of the project;

(vii)Provide an assessment of how well your strategy has worked in terms of risk and return. This will require a brief comparison with other strategies, one such being a buy-and-hold policy.

(viii)Any limitations that you encountered.




Post plc and Reply plc are two companies that are in the same business risk class.

Post plc is financed by 60 million ordinary shares with a market value of 350p each and by £200 million 10% irredeemable debentures with a current market value of £125 each. Post plc has operating earnings before interest and tax of £85 million per annum.


Reply plc is financed by 10 million ordinary shares with a market value of 700p each and by £60 million 5% irredeemable debentures with a market value of £70.00 each. Reply plc has operating earnings before interest and tax of £20 million per annum.

Both companies have the same dividend policy in that they both do not retain any earnings, choosing instead to distribute all the earnings to their shareholders.

Mr Roberts is a shareholder in Post plc, with a holding of 2,000 ordinary shares. Mr Roberts is thinking of selling his shares in Post plc and buying shares in Reply plc as he believes he may be able to make a capital gain by doing so. Assume that Mr Roberts is able to borrow or lend at a rate of 10%.

The rate of corporation tax is given as 30%.
Required
(a)
(i) Calculate the after tax cost of equity, the after tax cost of debt, and the overall weighted average cost of capital for both Post plc and Reply plc. Explain what each of these represents.
[30 marks]
(ii) Mr Roberts has asked for your advice as he wishes to switch his investment from Post plc to Reply plc but still retain his investment profile. Carefully explain showing all calculations what actions Mr Roberts would have to take in order to achieve this position. Fully explain your answer. Would you advise Mr Roberts to go ahead with such a switch.
[55 marks]
(iii) Calculate Mr Roberts income position in Post plc and Reply plc both before and after the switch.
[15 marks]

Related Discussions:- Portfolio Management

Explain how a country can run an overall balance of payments, Explain how a...

Explain how a country can run an overall balance of payments deficit or surplus. Answer:  A country can run a whole BOP (balance of payments) deficit or surplus by engaging in th

Principle of opportunity cost, Suppose you have recently been contracted as...

Suppose you have recently been contracted as a financial consultant to a London-based engineering company, Alpha Products Plc. The company uses three components as part of their pr

What are implications of ownership rights by equity claims, What are the ma...

What are the main implications of ownership rights by equity claims? Ownership rights have two primary implications: a. First, equity holders can advantage by any raise in t

Put provision, An issue with a put provision included in the ag...

An issue with a put provision included in the agreement grants the bondholder the right to sell bonds back to the issuer at a pre-specified rate

Determine principal balance at the end of the term, 1. CompuSystems was sup...

1. CompuSystems was supposed to pay a manufacturer $19,000 four month ago and another $14,000 two months from now.  CompuSystems is proposing to pay $10,000 today and the balance i

Decision making, Write a report to the Board of Directors of Solvent Ltd to...

Write a report to the Board of Directors of Solvent Ltd to analyse the performance of companies X and Y and to give recommendation as which of those two investment opportunities is

Explain the demand for bananas increases, Suppose the demand for bananas in...

Suppose the demand for bananas increases. Explain how the price of bananas adjusts after the increase in demand. If the demand for bananas rises, a shortage is made at the origin

Rationale for mergers-product advantages, Product Advantages: A firm th...

Product Advantages: A firm that has developed a reputation for superior products in the domestic market may find acceptance from the foreign consumers as well. Hence, such firm

Geographical classification of mutual funds , Geographical Classification o...

Geographical Classification of Mutual Funds : Nations' boundaries provide territorial restrictions on the sale and purchase of mutual fund units or shares as is the case in com

Explain inventory approach to cash management, Q. Explain Inventory approac...

Q. Explain Inventory approach to cash management? This method analysis cash in the same way as engine inventory such that EOQ models may be employed. In such conditions cash

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Order Assignment

Featured Services

Order Now

Popular Subjects

Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

Submit Assignment

Academics

Major Subjects

Majors

Get In Touch

whatsapp: +91-977-207-8620

Phone: +91-977-207-8620

Email: [email protected]

TERMS & POLICIES

HELP & SUPPORT

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd