Free CFA-Level-II Mock Exam – Practice Online Confidently

Marsha McDonnell and Frank Lutge are analysts for the private equity firm Thorngate Ventures. Their primary responsibility is to value the equity of private firms in developed global economies. Thorngate's clients consist of wealthy individuals and institutional investors. The firm invests in and subsequently actively manages its portfolio of private firms.
During a discussion with junior analysts at the firm, McDonnell compares the characteristics of private firms with that of public firms and makes the following statements:
Statement 1: Private firms typically have higher risk premiums and required returns than public firms because private firms are usually smaller and thus thought to be riskier. Furthermore, the lack of access to liquid public equity markets can limit a private firm's growth.
Statement 2: Because of their higher risk, private firms may not be able to attract as many qualified applicants for top positions as public firms. Due to the higher risk, the managers they do attract tend to have a shorter-term view of the firm and their tenure at the firm, compared to public Firm managers. As a result, the private firm may neglect profitable long-term projects.
Due to its considerable success, Thorngate has recently attracted a substantial inflow of capital from investors. To deploy that capital, McDonnell and Lutge are considering the purchase of Albion Biotechnology. Albion is using advances in biotechnology for application in the pharmaceutical field. The analysts are primarily interested in Albion because the firm's research team is developing a drug that Thomgate's current pharmaceutical firm is also working on. McDonnell estimates that combining research teams would result in advances that no pharmaceutical competitor could match for at least two years. The firm is currently owned by its founders, who are familiar to Lutge through previous social contacts. Lutge hopes to avoid a competitive bidding process for the firm, because its founders have not advertised the firm's sale publicly.
McDonnell is also examining the prospects of Balanced Metals, a metal fabrication firm. Thorngate currently does not have any manufacturing firms in its portfolio, and Balanced would provide needed exposure. The growth in sales at Balanced has been impressive recently, but it is expected to slow considerably in the years ahead due to increased competition from overseas firms. The firm's most valuable assets are its equipment and factory, located in a prime industrial area.
Balanced was previously considered for possible purchase by a competitor in the metal fabrication industry. Although (he sale was not consummated, McDonnell has learned that the firm estimated that costs could be reduced at Balanced by eliminating redundant overhead expenses. McDonnell has obtained the following financial figures from (he Balanced Metals CFO as well as the previously estimated synergistic savings from cost reductions. Capital expenditures will equal depreciation plus approximately 4% of the firm's incremental revenues.
Current revenues $22,000,000
Revenue growth 7%
Gross profit margin 25%
Depreciation expense as a percent of sales 1%
Working capital as a percent of sales 15%
SG&A expenses $5,400,000
Synergistic cost savings $1,200,000
Tax rate 30%
Lutge is valuing a noncontrolling equity interest in Jensen Gear, a small outdoors equipment retailer. Jensen has experienced healthy growth in earnings over the past three years. However, given its size and private status, Lutge does not expect that Jensen can be easily sold. To obtain the appropriate price multiple for the Jensen valuation, he has prepared a database of price multiples from the sale of entire public and private companies over the past ten years, organized by industry classification. Using historical data, Lutge estimates a control premium of 18.7% and discount for lack of marketability of 24%.
To obtain the cost of capital for Jensen, Lutge uses a cost of capital database that includes public company betas, cost of equity, weighted average cost of capital, and other financial statistics by industry. Given Jensen's small size, Lutge obtains a size premium using the smallest size decile of the database. McDonnell examines Lutge's cost of capital calculations and makes the following statements.
Statement 1: I am concerned about the use of this database. The estimation of the size premium may result in an undervaluation of the Jensen equity interest.
Statement 2: The use of betas and the CAPM from the database may be inappropriate, [f so, Lutge should consider using the build-up method where an industry risk premium is used instead of beta.
Which of the following best describes the standard of value that McDonnell and Lutge will apply to Albion Biotechnology?

Andrew Carson is an equity analyst employed at Lee, Vincent, and Associates, an investment research firm. In a conversation with his supervisor, Daniel Lau, Carson makes the following two statements about defined contribution plans.
Statement I: Employers often face onerous disclosure requirements.
Statement 2: Employers often bear all the investment risk.
Carson is responsible for following Samilski Enterprises (Samilski), a publicly traded firm that produces motorcycles and other mechanical parts. It operates exclusively in the United States. At the end of its 2009 fiscal year, Samilski's employee pension plan had a projected benefit obligation (PBO) of $320 million. Also, unrecognized prior service costs were $35 million, the fair value of plan assets was $316 million, and the unrecognized actuarial gain was $21 million.
Carson believes the rate of compensation increase will be 5% as opposed to 4% in the previous year, and the discount rate will be 7% as opposed to 8% in the previous year.
This past year, Samilski began using special purpose entities (SPEs) for various reasons. In preparation for analyzing the SPE disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements, Carson prepares a memo on SPEs. In the memo, he correctly concludes that the company will be required under new accounting rules to classify them as variable interest entities (VIE) and consolidate the entities on the balance sheet rather than report them using the equity method as in the past.
Is Carson correct with respect to defined contribution plans?

High Plains Tubular Company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of quality steel products used in energy, industrial, and automotive applications worldwide.
The U .S . steel industry has been challenged by competition from foreign producers located primarily in Asia. All of the U .S . producers are experiencing declining margins as labor costs continue to increase. In addition, the U .S . steel mills arc technologically inferior to the foreign competitors. Also, the U .S . producers have significant environmental issues that remain unresolved.
High Plains is not immune from the problems of the industry and is currently in technical default under its bond covenants. The default is a result of the failure to meet certain coverage and turnover ratios. Earlier this year, High Plains and its bondholders entered into an agreement that will allow High Plains time to become compliant with the covenants. If High Plains is not in compliance by year end, the bondholders can immediately accelerate the maturity date of the bonds. In this case. High Plains would have no choice but to file bankruptcy.
High Plains follows U .S . GAAP. For the year ended 2008, High Plains received an unqualified opinion from its independent auditor. However, the auditor's opinion included an explanatory paragraph about High Plains' inability to continue as a going concern in the event its bonds remain in technical default.
At the end of 2008, High Plains' Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) filed the necessary certifications required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Jason Bennett is an analyst for Valley Airlines (Valley), a U .S . firm. Valley owns a stake in Southwest Air Cargo (Southwest), also a U .S . firm. The two firms have had a long-standing relationship. The relationship has become even closer because several of Valley's top executives hold seats on Southwest's Board of Directors.
Valley acquired a 45% ownership stake in Southwest on December 31, 2007. Acquisition of the ownership stake cost $9 million and was paid in cash. Valley's stake in Southwest is such that management can account for the investment using either the equity method or the acquisition method. While Valley's management desires to fairly represent the firm's operating results, they have assigned Bennett to assess the impact of each method on reported financial statements.
Immediately prior to the acquisition. Valley's current asset balance and total equity were $96 million and $80 million, respectively. Southwest's current assets and total equity were $32 million and $16 million, respectively.
While analyzing the use of the equity method versus the acquisition method, Bennett calculates the return on assets (ROA) ratio. He arrives at two conclusions:
Statement 1: Compared to the acquisition method, the equity method results in a higher ROA because of the higher net income under the equity method.
Statement 2: Compared to the acquisition method, the equity method results in a higher ROA because of the smaller level of total assets under the equity method.
In order to get a better picture of Valley's operating condition, Bennett is also considering the use of proportionate consolidation to account for Southwest. He makes the following statements regarding the acquisition method and a proportionate consolidation:
Statement 3: Both methods are widely accepted under the provisions of U .S . GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Statement 4: Both methods report the same level of assets on the parent's balance sheet.
Statement 5: Both methods report all of Southwest's liabilities on the parent's balance sheet.
In addition. Valley has always wanted to pursue its goal of vertical integration by expanding its scope of operations to include the manufacturing of airline parts for its own airplanes. Therefore, it established a subsidiary, Mountain Air Parts (Mountain), in Switzerland on January 1,2008. Switzerland was chosen as the location for economic and geographical diversification reasons. Mountain will operate as a self-contained, independent subsidiary. Local management in Switzerland will make the majority of operating, financing, and investing decisions.

Sara Robinson and Marvin Gardner are considering an opportunity to start their own money management firm. Their conversation leads them to a discussion on establishing a portfolio management process and investment policy statements. Robinson makes the following statements:
Statement 1;
Our only real objective as portfolio managers is to maximize the returns to our clients.
Statement 2:
If we are managing only a fraction of a client's total wealth, it is the client's responsibility, not ours, to determine how their investments are allocated among asset classes.
Statement 3: When developing a client's strategic asset allocation, portfolio managers have to consider capital market expectations. In response, Gardner makes the following statements:
Statement 4: While return maximization is important for a given level of risk, we also need to consider the client's tolerance for risk.
Statement 5: We'll let our clients worry about the tax implications of their investments; our time is better spent on finding undervalued assets.
Statement 6: Since we expect our investor's objectives to be constantly changing, we will need to evaluate their investment policy statements on an annual basis at a minimum.
Robinson wants to focus on younger clientele with the expectation that the new firm will be able to retain the clients for a long time and create long-term profitable relationships. While Gardner felt it was important to develop long-term relationships, he wants to go after older, high-net-worth clients.
Are Statements 2 and 3 correct when considering asset allocation?