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

Ota L'Abbe, a supervisor at an investment research firm, has asked one of the junior analysts, Andreas Hally, to draft a research report dealing with various accounting issues.
Excerpts from the request are as follows:
* ''There's an exciting company that we're starting to follow these days. It's called Snowboards and Skateboards, Inc. They are a multinational company with operations and a head office based in the resort town of Whistler in western Canada. However, they also have a significant subsidiary located in the United States.'
* 'Look at the subsidiary and deal with some foreign currency issues including the specific differences between the temporal and all-current methods of translation, as well as the effect on financial ratios.'
* 'The attached file contains the September 30, 2008, financial statements of the U .S . subsidiary. Translate the financial statements into Canadian dollars in a manner consistent with U .S . GAAP.'
The following are statements from the research report subsequently written by Hally:
Statement 1: Subsidiaries whose operations are well integrated with the parent will use the all-current method of translation.
Statement 2: Self-contained, independent subsidiaries whose operating, investing, and financing activities are primarily located in the local market will use the temporal method of translation.

Yi Tang updates several economic parameters monthly for use by the analysts and the portfolio managers at her firm. If economic conditions warrant, she will update the parameters even more frequently. As a result of an economic slowdown, she is going through this process now.
The firm has been using an equity risk premium of 5.6%, found with historical estimates. Tang is going to use an estimate of the equity risk premium found with a macroeconomic model. By comparing the yields on nominal bonds and real bonds, she estimates the inflation rate to be 2.6%. She expects real domestic growth to be 3.0%. Tang does not expect a change in price/earnings ratios. The yield on the market index is 1.7% and the expected risk-free rate of return is 2.7%.
Elizabeth Trotter, one of the firm's portfolio Managers, asks Tang about the effects of survivorship bias on estimates of the equity risk premium. Trotter asks, 'Which method is most susceptible to this bias, historical estimates, Gordon growth model estimates, or survey estimates?'
Tang wishes to estimate the required rate of return for Northeast Electric (NE) using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Fama-French three factor model. She is using the following information to accomplish this:
* The risk-free rate of return is 2.7%.

Lena Pilchard, research associate for Eiffel Investments, is attempting to measure the value added to the Eiffel Investments portfolio from the use of 1-year earnings growth forecasts developed by professional analysts.
Pilchard's supervisor, Edna Wilms, recommends a portfolio allocation strategy that overweights neglected firms. Wilms cites studies of the 'neglected firm effect,' in which companies followed by a small number of professional analysts are associated with higher returns than firms followed by a larger number of analysts. Wilms considers a company covered by three or fewer analysts to be 'neglected.'
Pilchard also is aware of research indicating that, on average, stock returns for small firms have been higher than those earned by large firms. Pilchard develops a model to predict stock returns based on analyst coverage, firm size, and analyst growth forecasts. She runs the following cross-sectional regression using data for the 30 stocks included in the Eiffel Investments portfolio:
Ri = b0 + b,COVERAGEi + b2 LN(SIZEi) + b3(FORECASTi) + e
where:
Ri = the rate of return on stock i
COVERAGEi = one if there are three or fewer analysts covering stock
i, and equals zero otherwise
LN(SIZEi) = the natural logarithm of the market capitalization
(stock price times shares outstanding) for stock i,
units in millions
FORECASTi = the 1-year consensus earnings growth rate forecast for stock i

Marie Williams, CFA, and David Pacious, CFA, are portfolio managers for Stillwell Managers. Williams and Pacious are attending a conference held by Henri Financial Education on the fundamentals of valuation for common stock, preferred stock, and other assets
During the conference, the presenter uses an example of four different companies to illustrate the valuation of common stock from the perspective of a minority shareholder.
During the conference, the presenter uses an example of four different companies to illustrate the valuation of common stock from the perspective of a minority shareholder.
* Firm A is a noncyclical consumer products firm with a 50 year history. The firm pays a $1.80 dividend per share and attempts to increase dividends by 4% a year. Earnings and dividends have steadily increased for the past
20 years.
* Firm B is a technology firm. It has never paid a dividend and does not expect to in the near future. Furthermore, due to large investments in new factories and equipment, the firm is not expected to generate positive free cash flow in the foreseeable future.
* Firm C is an industrial firm with currently very little competition and a dividend growth rate of 9% a year. However, the profits in its product market have started to attract competitors and it is expected that Firm C's profits will slowly decline such that the dividend growth steadily falls each year until it reaches a growth rate of 4% a year.
* Firm D is a pharmaceutical firm that is currently enjoying high profits and paying dividends. However, the firm's strongest selling drug is coming off patent in three years. With no other drugs in the pipeline, the firm's dividend growth rate is expected to drop abruptly in three years and settle at a lower growth rate.
The next day, Pacious decides to put what he learned into practice. The stock he is valuing, Maple Goods and Services, currently pays a dividend of $3.00. The dividend growth rate is 25% and is expected to steadily decline over the next 8 years to a stable rate of 7% thereafter. Given its risk, Pacious estimates that the required return is 5%.
Williams analyzes the value of Mataka Plastics stock. Its dividend is expected to grow at a rate of 18% for the next four years, after which it will grow at 4%. This year's dividend is $5.00 and Williams estimates the required return at 15%.
From the seminar, Pacious learned that a firm's health can be gauged by the present value of its future investment opportunities (PVGO). Tackling a calculation, he uses the following example for Wood Athletic Supplies:
Stock price $90.00
Current earnings $5.50
Expected earnings $6.00
Required return on stock 15%
Pacious and Williams discuss the characteristics of firms in various stages of growth, where firms experience an initial growth phase, a transitional phase, and a maturity phase in their life. They both agree that the Gordon Growth Model is not always appropriate. Pacious makes the following statements.
Statement I: For firms in the initial growth phase, earnings are rapidly increasing, there are little or no dividends, and there is heavy reinvestment. The return on equity is, however, higher than the required return on the stock, the free cash flows to equity are positive, and the profit margin is high.
Statement 2: When estimating the terminal value in the three-stage dividend growth model, it can be estimated using the Gordon Growth Model or a price-multiple approach.
Which of the following best describes the appropriate valuation techniques for the Henri presentation scenarios?

Michelle Norris, CFA, manages assets for individual investors in the United States as well as in other countries. Norris limits the scope of her practice to equity securities traded on U .S . stock exchanges. Her partner, John Witkowski, handles any requests for international securities. Recently, one of Norris's wealthiest clients suffered a substantial decline in the value of his international portfolio. Worried that his U .S . allocation might suffer the same fate, he has asked Norris to implement a hedge on his portfolio. Norris has agreed to her client's request and is currently in the process of evaluating several futures contracts. Her primary interest is in a futures contract on a broad equity index that will expire 240 days from today. The closing price as of yesterday, January 17, for the equity index was 1,050. The expected dividends from the index yield 2% (continuously compounded annual rate). The effective annual risk-free rate is 4.0811%, and the term structure is flat. Norris decides that this equity index futures contract is the appropriate hedge for her client's portfolio and enters into the contract.
Upon entering into the contract, Norris makes the following comment to her client:
'You should note that since we have taken a short position in the futures contract, the price we will receive for selling the equity index in 240 days will be reduced by the convenience yield associated with having a long position in the underlying asset. If there were no cash flows associated with the underlying asset, the price would be higher. Additionally, you should note that if we had entered into a forward contract with the same terms, the contract price would most likely have been lower but we would have increased the credit risk exposure of the portfolio.'
Sixty days after entering into the futures contract, the equity index reached a level of 1,015. The futures contract that Norris purchased is now trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a price of 1,035. Interest rates have not changed. After performing some calculations, Norris calls her client to let him know of an arbitrage opportunity related to his futures position. Over the phone, Norris makes the following comments to her client:
'We have an excellent opportunity to earn a riskless profit by engaging in arbitrage using the equity index, risk-free assets, and futures contracts. My recommended strategy is as follows: We should sell the equity index short, buy the futures contract, and pay any dividends occurring over the life of the contract. By pursuing this strategy, we can generate profits for your portfolio without incurring any risk.'
If the expected growth rate in dividends for stocks increases by 75 basis points, which of the following would benefit the most? An investor who: