Question 1

Lauren Jacobs, CFA, is an equity analyst for DF Investments. She is evaluating Iron Parts Inc. Iron Parts is a manufacturer of interior systems and components for automobiles. The company is the world's second largest original equipment auto parts supplier, with a market capitalization of $1.8 billion. Based on Iron Parts's low price-to-book value ratio of 0.9* and low price-to-sales ratio of 0.15x, Jacobs believes the stock could be an interesting investment. However, she wants to review the disclosures found in the company's financial footnotes. In particular, Jacobs is concerned about Iron Parts's defined benefit pension plan. The following information for 2007 and 2008 is provided.

Iron Parts has adopted SFAS No. 158, Employers' Accounting for Defined Benefit Pensions and Other Postretirement Plans.
Jacobs wants to fully understand the impact of changing pension assumptions on Iron Parts's balance sheet and income statement. In addition, she would like to compute Iron Parts's economic pension expense.
Which of the following best describes the effect(s) of the change in Iron Part's expected return on the plan assets, all else equal?

Options :

A : Pension expense decreased and the PBO increased.

B : Retained earnings increased and the pension plan appeared more funded.

C : Net income increased.

Answer: C

Question 2

Mary Carr is 62 years old, in good health, and will retire in four years from her position as the CEO and chairman of the board of a large professional services firm, Appleton Professional Services, which is located in the midwestern United States. Carr has approached Tim Houlis, her financial planner, for help in preparing an investment policy statement and accompanying asset allocation. Jack Timmons is Houlis' assistant.

In a lunch meeting with Houlis and Timmons, Carr reveals that she is thinking of moving this year to be closer to Appleton's largest client. She is concerned about developing an investment plan now given that she will no longer have contact with Houlis if she does move. Houlis reassures her that this is not a problem. He states that a properly constructed investment policy statement can be readily implemented by her new financial advisor. Timmons states that the investment policy statement is a long-term document that should be changed only if the outlook for equities versus bonds and other assets changes.

Carr's parents were successful business people who owned a series of small firms. Their success, however, did not come without challenges. Twice they had to liquidate businesses in which they were the primary shareholders. As a child, Carr became accustomed to the uncertainties of the entrepreneurial world. When she graduated from college, her parents provided her with the funds to purchase Appleton Professional Services. Appleton was a small firm at that point, but Can-has grown it into one of the larger firms in its industry, even though the professional services industry is cyclical and is susceptible to economic recessions. Appleton went public eight years ago and Carr retained a majority shareholder position when it did. Over time she has sold some of the stock but still has a controlling position in the firm.

Despite the business difficulties Carr's parents experienced, they were able to amass a sizeable fortune in their later years. Including her inheritance and holdings in Appleton stock, Carr has a portfolio with a current value of $6,000,000, most of which is invested in Appleton and other domestic and international equities. Carr has instructed Houlis and Timmons to grow her portfolio over time, focusing on capital appreciation and achieving long-term return goals. She would like to leave her children a sizeable inheritance.

Carr is single with two children. Her oldest child, Mark, is 25 years old and financially independent. Her youngest son, John, is a junior in college at a prestigious liberal arts college in New England. The tuition payment for his last year of college of approximately $40,000 is due at the end of this year. She has no mortgage on her house. Carr is an avid bird watcher and gifts $50,000 a year to a local environmental group. She is concerned with the destruction of bird habitat, so she does not want to invest in highly-polluting industries or firms that are involved in real estate development.

When she retires, Carr will receive a lump-sum, after-tax distribution of approximately $500,000 from her firm. She will also begin collecting an annual pension payment equal to her current salary. The pension payment is indexed to inflation. She will be covered under Appleton's health insurance plan in retirement. Carr spends $ 170,000 a year on vacations and living expenses, which is about equal to her current salary at Appleton.

Houlis estimates that Carr is taxed at an effective marginal rate of 30% on capital gains and income. Houlis estimates an inflation rate of 3% for the rest of Carr's life expectancy, which he projects at 20 years or more, given her good health.

With regard to generating adequate liquidity for Carr's portfolio, Timmons states that she need not invest entirely in income-generating assets. Instead, Carr can generate income from stock dividends, bond coupons, and the sale of assets. By being willing to generate income through the sale of assets, Carr would be able to broaden the types of securities available to her for investment. Timmons states that the problem with most assets that produce income (e.g., dividend paying stocks) is that their expected return is usually lower. He states that the advantage of his approach is that Carr could pursue higher return assets, such as small company stocks.

Are Houlis and Timmons' statements concerning the investment policy statement made at the lunch meeting correct?

Options :

A : Both statements are correct.

B : Only one statement is correct.

C : Neither statement is correct.

Answer: B

Question 3

Mary Pierce, CFA, has just joined The James Group as a fixed income security analyst. Pierce has taken over for Katy Williams, who left The James Group to start her own investment firm. Pierce has been reviewing Williams's files, which include data on a number of securities that Williams had been reviewing.

The first file had information on several different asset-backed securities. A summary schedule that Williams had prepared is shown in Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1: Summary Schedule

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The second file included the following schedule of information relating to a specific CMO thai Williams had been considering. Exhibit 2 reflects the results of a Monte Carlo simulation based on 15% volatility of interest rates. This security is stil! available, and Pierce needs to evaluate the investment merit of any or all of the listed tranches.

A third file contained notes Williams had laken at a seminar a couple of months ago on valuing various types of asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. These notes included the following comments that Pierce found interesting:

'Cash flow yield (CFY) is one method of valuing mortgage-backed securities. An advantage of the CFY is that it does not rely on any specific prepayment assumptions. An important weakness of CFY is the assumption that interim cash flows will be reinvested at the CFY. This is rarely true for mortgage-backed securities.'

'Cash flow duration is similar to effective duration, but its weakness is that it fails to fully account for changes in prepayment rates as cash flow yields change. Empirical duration suffers two disadvantages as a measure of interest rate exposure: reliance on theoretical formulas and reliance on historical pricing data that may not exist for many mortgage-backed securities.'

'The recent increase in the default rate for subprime adjustable rate mortgages can be traced to the structure of these loans. The negative amortization feature of these loans basically gave the borrower an at-the-money call option on their property. Once the property decreased in value, this call option was worthless, and the borrower had no incentive to make any additional payments.'

Pierce realizes that she will need to do a more in-depth analysis, but based only on the information in Williams's CMO table, she can conclude that:

Options :

A : there is no prepayment risk in the PAC A tranche.

B :

the high OAS of the PAC D tranche indicates it is most likely to be overvalued.

C : the Support S tranche is undervalued because its OAS is below that of both the PAC C and PAC D tranches.

Answer: A

Question 4

Charles Connor, CFA, is a portfolio manager at Apple Investments, LLC . Apple is a U .S .-based firm offering a wide spectrum of investment products and services. Connor manages the Biogene Fund, a domestic equity fund specializing in small capitalization growth stocks. The Biogene Fund generally takes significant positions in stocks, commonly owning 4.5-5% of the outstanding shares. The fund's prospectus limits positions to a maximum of 5% of the shares outstanding. The performance of the Biogene Fund has been superior over the last few years, but for the last two quarters the fund has underperformed its benchmark by a wide margin. Connor is determined to improve his performance numbers going forward.
The Biogene prospectus allows Connor to use derivative instruments in his investment strategy. Connor frequently uses options to hedge his fund's exposure as he builds or liquidates positions in his portfolio since Biogene's large positions often take several weeks to acquire. For example, when he identifies a stock to buy, he often buys call options to gain exposure to the stock. As he buys the stock, he sells off the options or allows them to expire. Connor has noticed that the increased volume in the call options often drives the stock price higher for a few days. He has seen a similar negative effect on stock prices when he buys large amounts of put options.
The end of the quarter is just a few days away, and Connor is considering three transactions:
Transaction A: Buying Put Options on Stock A
The Biogene Fund owns 4,9% of the outstanding stock of Company A, but Connor believes the stock is fully valued and plans to sell the entire position. He anticipates that it will take approximately 45 trading days to liquidate the entire Biogene position in Stock A
The Biogene Fund owns 5% of the outstanding stock of Company B . Connor believes there is significant appreciation potential for Stock B, but the stock price has dropped in recent weeks. Connor is hoping that by taking an option position, there will be a carryover effect on ihe stock price before quarter end.
Transaction C: Selling the Biogene Fund's Entire Position in .Stock C
Connor believes that Stock C is still attractive, but he is selling the stock with the idea that he will repurchase the position next month. The motivation for the transaction is to capture a capital loss that will reduce the Biogene Fund's tax expense for the year.
Apple has an investment banking department that is active in initial public offerings (IPOs). George Arnold, CFA, is the senior manager of the IPO department. Arnold approached Connor about Stock D, a new IPO being offered by Apple. Stock D will open trading in two days. Apple had offered the IPO to all of its clients, but approximately 20% of the deal remained unsold. Having read the prospectus, Connor thinks Stock D would be a good fit for his fund, and he expects Stock D to improve his performance in both the short and long term. Connor is not aware of any information related to Stock D beyond that provided in the prospectus. Connor asked to purchase 5% of the IPO, but Arnold limited Biogene's share to 2%, explaining:
'With Biogene's reputation, any participation will make the unsold shares highly marketable. Further, we may need Biogene to acquire more Stock D shares at a later date if the price does not hold up.'
Connor is disappointed in being limited to 2% of the offering and suggests to Arnold in an e-mail that, given the 2% limitation, Biogene will not participate in the IPO . Arnold responded a few hours later with the following message:
'I have just spoken with Ms. D, the CFO of Stock D . Although it is too late to alter the prospectus, management believes they will receive a large contract from a foreign government that will boost next year's sales by 20% or more. I urge you to accept the 2%---you won't be sorry!'
After reviewing Arnold's e-mail, Connor agrees to the 2% offer.
Based upon Connor's acceptance of the 2% limitation after receiving the e-mail from Arnold:

Options :

A : Connor has violated Standards relating to material nonpublic information, and Arnold has violated Standards relating to preservation of confidentiality.

B : Connor has not violated Standards relating to material nonpublic information, but Arnold has violated Standards relating to preservation of confidentiality.

C : Connor has not violated Standards relating to material nonpublic information, but Arnold has violated Standards relating to preservation of confidentiality and material nonpublic information.

Answer: A

Question 5

Valentine notes that a share of Trailblazer's stock is currently priced at $32. Moreover, she expects the dividend for next year to be $1.47 and forecasts that the price of one share of Trailblazer stock at the end of the year wilt be $35.
In her report, Valentine makes the following statements about Trailblazer dividends:
Statement 1: Trailblazer is expected to pay a dividend next year and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Statement 2: The required rate of return for Trailblazer stock will likely exceed the growth rate of its dividends.
Statement 3: Trailblazer is in a mature sector of its industry, and accordingly,
I expect dividends to decline to a constant rate of 4% indefinitely.
In speaking to a colleague at her firm, Valentine makes the following additional statements after her report is released:
Statement 4: Trailblazer has a 10-year history of paying regular quarterly dividends.
Statement 5: Over a recent 10-year period, Trailblazer has experienced one 3-year period of consecutive losses and another period of two annual losses in a row but has been extremely profitable in the remaining five years.
Valentine is concerned about the theoretical validity of using the APT to obtain an estimate of the required rate of return on equity. She decides to attend a conference dealing specifically with estimation techniques that analysts can employ. At one of the conference seminars, the following points are made:
Statement 6: The APT is a better approach than the CAPM because even though the factor risk premiums are difficult to estimate, the CAPM is more problematic because it relies on a single market risk premium estimate, which in turn leads to greater input uncertainty.
Statement 7: Model uncertainty is a problem with the APT but not with the CAPM.
Valentine is also analyzing the stock of Farwell, Inc. Farwell shares are currently trading at $48 based on current earnings of $4 and a current dividend of $2.60. Dividends are expected to grow at 5% per year indefinitely. The risk-free rate is 3.5%, the market risk premium is 4.5%, and Farwell's beta is estimated to be 1.2.
Are Statements 6 and 7 correct?

Options :

A : Both statements are incorrect.

B : Only Statement 6 is incorrect.

C : Only Statement 7 is incorrect.

Answer: A

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