Accounting - Auditing & Finance Quantitative Finance

Questions: 1. Produce a spreadsheet showing: the investments you have chosen; the closing share price on Thursday 12th March (ie the price reported in the morning press on 13th March); the number of shares you have acquired; the beta of each company; and the value of your investment. Your spreadsheet should show the weighted average beta of your portfolio, accurately calculated. You must cut and paste the spreadsheet into the submitted document as the portal will not accept a spreadsheet in Excel format. You will be marked to reflect your understanding of the task and the accuracy of the data. 2. Explain your reasons for choosing each investment. This should include: a brief explanation of what the company does and a discussion of why you think its share price will perform well in the short to medium term. Your work should be supported by commentary and analysis by industry professionals in financial institutions and the financial press. You are not expected to carry out a financial analysis of the company. You will be marked on your understanding of the task, the relevance of the material presented, the insight of your analysis and the quality and breadth of the sources used. 3. Many investment managers invest by buying shares to reflect the FTSE 100 index. Explain how the FTSE 100 index is calculated and how this behaviour by investment managers affects the market, particularly for smaller companies shares. You will be marked on your understanding of the task and the insight of your analysis. Answers: Construction of Investment Portfolio Step 3 Step 5 Company Sector Beta Share Price Investment Value Portfolio Weights x(j) Number of share Restaurant Group Plc Travel and Leisure 0.592 687.81 4,003.88 0.04 5 Air China Travel and Leisure 1.75 56.85 6,800.95 0.07 119 Booker Group Plc Food and Drug Retailers 0.458 160 4,207.05 0.04 26 Dairy Farm International Holdings Food and Drug Retailers 0.65 1300.26 979.15 0.01 0 Abbott Laboratories Health Care Equipment and Services 0.41 4636.27 26,616.88 0.27 5 Avacta Group Plc Health Care Equipment and Services 1.24 0.84 51,723.17 0.52 61575 Berkeley Group Holdings Household Goods 0.85 2615 - 0.00 0 United Utilities Group Plc Gas, Water and Multiutilities 0.43 902.5 - 0.00 0 John Lewis of Hungerford Household Goods -0.437 1.13 - 0.00 0 UK Mail Group Plc Industrial Transportation 1.13 523.52 5,668.92 0.06 10 Total Investment 100,000.00 Portfolio weighted average beta 0.98289881 Total number of stock 61740 2. Reason for selecting each investment Restaurant Group Plc: It is a chain of public houses and restaurants which is headquartered in London. The company has an operation in about 350 public houses and restaurants. The share price of the company is highly valued at 687.806 which show that performance of the company is superior and due to that company is able to attract and hold their investors for so long. Apart from that, in spite of having such high share price, the beta value is only 0.592 which reflect a risky venture. Therefore, the share price of the company will effectively perform as the company is more liquid. Air China: Air China is an airline company which is listed on LSE. In 2013, around 51 million together of international and domestic passengers were carried through Air China. It has been seen that share price of the company is constant in last one year to 56.85 which reflect that there has not been more fluctuation in the price. Therefore, it can be assumed that constant return is provided to the investors. Apart from that, risk associated with the share price is manageable (Cordis, 2014). Therefore, the investors can buy the shares to get better return. Booker Group PLC: This Company is one of the biggest food wholesale operators that offers private labeled goods and branded product to more than 400000 consumers. Moreover, it also provides services to grocers, independent convenience stores, restaurants and pubs. The average share price of this company in last one year is trading at 141.49 which show that company provides better return to their investors. Apart from that, the risk associated with share price of securities is also minimal to 0.458. Thus, it can be mentioned that the share price of Booker Group Plc will effectively perform in short to medium term. Dairy Farm International Holdings: It is an Asian retail firm that is traded on LSE. The company is engaged in processing of food along with personal hygiene products. Apart from that, the products are also wholesaled. The share price of Dairy Farm as on 12th March 2015 is 1300.26 and has low beta risk at 0.65. As a result it can be expected that its share price will be strongly traded in short term and medium term. Moreover, the risk of investment is minimal for the investors. Abbott Laboratories: It is an American health care and pharmaceuticals products which has its operation in around 130 nations and holds more than 90000 workforces. The company is in the business since 127 years. The products in which the company deals are diagnostic assays, pharmaceutical products, animal health products, medical devices and nutritional products. As on 12th March 2015 the share price is highly valued at 4636.27 with a minimum risk association of 0.41. Thus, the investors would not have to fear bout risk and low-risk taking investors can invest in it. As a result, the share price will perform productively in short term and medium term market. Avacta Group Plc: The Company is engaged in providing innovative technologies along with reagents and consumables for Life Science markets. Moreover, it is involved in drug discovery and its diagnostics. Therefore, it is has good exposure globally and strongly trade on LSE. The share price of the company is very low to 0.84 and is highly risky. Therefore, it can be mentioned that it is not safe enough to perform effectively in short to medium term. Moreover, the company is less liquid in comparison to other nine companies. Berkeley Group Holdings:It is a house-building firm that is based in Surrey. The company is specialized in residential work or neighbourhoods. Moreover, the company holds different brand under their name such as Berkeley Homes, St Edwards Homes, St George Plc and St James Homes Brands. Being said that, the average share price of the company in last one year is 2308.441 and has a beta of 0.85. Therefore, the risk is less on the share price of the securities which ensures that investing in the securities in relation to short to medium term would be beneficial for the investors. United Utilities Group Plc: It is the biggest listed water company in UK and it is merger of NORWEB and North West Water. The company majorly deals in Recycled Wastewater and Drinking Water. About 4.0 gallon production is done each day. The share price will effectively perform as the margin of risk is very less on the share and share price of the company. Therefore, the both company and investors would be benefited. John Lewis of Hungerford: This Company is involved in the home products such as fitted kitchens, bedrooms, luxury items and furniture. Therefore, it can be assumed that share value will perform as their share price is constant and will positively perform in medium term. Moreover, its beta is negative which means their shares are less volatile (Arya and Glover, 2014). UK Mail Group Plc: It is a private limited firm which is engaged in postal services. It provides services to large number of customers which helped in their growth. Furthermore, its share price is almost throughout the year and bears low beta which show that it will gain benefit in short to medium term. 3. FTSE 100 Index Analysis According to Areal and Rodrigues (2011) FTSE is an index which is composed of 100 largest organizations that are listed on London Stock Exchange (LSE). The companies that are in FTSE 100 are different in sizes. It is known that the larger the size of the companies the larger is the weight of those companies. Apart from that, performance of each of the 100 companies on LSE can be effectively measured by FTSE 100. Therefore, in order to calculate FTSE 100 index, the market cap of each firm is required and also the weight-age of each company has also to be known. On the other hand, the share value of each of the company is multiplied by the total number of shares issued by the company. Therefore, it true market value of each of the company can be known (Cabeza-Pereiro, 2014). Stock Current Price Market Cap Outstanding Shares Weighting Anglo American 1,057.50 14,873.44 1,843.78 0.792907 Associated British Foods 2,918.00 23,425.64 313.91 1.248827 Admiral Group 1,483.00 4,172.67 801.41 0.222446 Aberdeen Asset Management 446 5,844.46 2,166.18 0.31157 Aggreko 1,604.50 4,177.29 135.48 0.222692 Ashtead Group 1,185.50 6,025.03 395.41 0.321196 Antofagasta 783.50 7,640.39 643.83 0.407311 ARM Holdings 1,118.50 15,901.10 1,420.50 0.847692 Aviva 542.25 21,845.57 2,774.76 1.164593 AstraZeneca 4,446.75 55,641.69 1,068.77 2.966273 BAE Systems 513.25 16,105.33 1,703.70 0.858579 Babcock International Group 1,107.50 5,549.27 406.76 0.295833 Barclays 270.55 43,994.08 25,112.47 2.345336 British American Tobacco 3,620.25 67,845.18 685.27 3.616844 Barratt Developments 595.25 5,833.04 2,979.38 0.310961 BG Group 1,163.75 39,408.76 2,130.41 2.100891 British Land Co 869.25 9,041.93 1,024.95 0.482028 BHP Billiton 1,401.00 29,685.17 2,756.31 1.582524 Bunzl 1,880.00 6,408.51 136.89 0.341639 BP 453.55 82,604.21 8,580.31 4.403652 Burberry Group 1,699.00 8,041.16 1,030.47 0.428676 BT Group 460.80 39,052.88 4,360.39 2.081919 Coca-Cola HBC 1,462.50 5,393.02 105.59 0.287503 Carnival 3,144.00 6,947.17 310.83 0.370355 Centrica 279.50 14,053.05 4,323.36 0.749172 Compass Group 1,150.50 19,363.02 1,443.79 1.032248 Capita Group (The) 1,277.50 8,434.01 493.17 0.449619 CRH 1,840.00 15,202.27 392.86 0.810437 Dixons Carphone 463.05 5,386.54 2,100.79 0.287158 Diageo 1,793.75 45,638.03 2,472.77 2.432975 Direct Line Insurance Group 328.85 4,897.50 1,098.20 0.261087 Experian 1,244.50 12,355.33 1,055.52 0.658666 easyJet 1,614.00 6,649.26 1,103.35 0.354474 Fresnillo 760.25 5,633.55 530.49 0.300326 G4S 295.35 4,560.14 745.03 0.243102 GKN 366.10 6,036.83 2,413.91 0.321825 Glencore 293.15 37,880.27 9,011.79 2.019407 GlaxoSmithKline 1,459.75 70,195.05 2,597.21 3.742116 Hikma Pharmaceuticals 2,136.50 4,232.17 97.17 0.225618 Hargreaves Lansdown 1,273.00 6,071.28 380.85 0.323662 Hammerson 680.25 5,517.63 718.65 0.294146 HSBC Holdings 615.10 120,337.99 4,958.67 6.41525 International Consolidated Airlines Group 556.75 11,573.22 6,304.43 0.616971 InterContinental Hotels Group 2,782.00 6,575.87 140.66 0.350561 3i Group 558.75 5,329.09 688.66 0.284095 Imperial Tobacco Group 3,273.00 31,268.16 545.91 1.666914 Intu Properties 343.5 4,685.16 441.32 0.249767 Intertek Group 2,595.50 4,305.13 92.47 0.229508 ITV 267.8 10,880.68 2,904.69 0.580052 Johnson Matthey 3,439.50 6,997.94 154.34 0.373062 Kingfisher 364.55 8,470.87 1,548.81 0.451584 Land Securities Group 1,328.50 10,775.11 1,081.09 0.574424 Legal General Group 269.25 16,045.00 4,518.34 0.855363 Lloyds Banking Group ORD 87.64 62,808.89 31,486.28 3.348358 London Stock Exchange Group 2,431.50 8,595.20 252.07 0.458212 Merlin Entertainments 465.05 4,771.70 1,288.88 0.254381 Meggitt 513.75 4,052.24 590.95 0.216026 Marks Spencer Group 590.25 9,650.58 2,861.64 0.514475 Mondi 1,507.00 7,210.47 699.18 0.384392 Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets 179.9 4,226.52 2,240.83 0.225317 National Grid 909.4 33,682.16 2,837.48 1.795605 Next 7,442.50 11,350.86 134.85 0.605117 Old Mutual 233.4 11,630.66 4,886.87 0.620034 Prudential 1,656.00 42,909.76 1,441.87 2.287531 Persimmon 1,923.00 5,824.30 421.54 0.310495 Pearson 1,339.50 10,991.86 587.86 0.585979 Reckitt Benckiser Group 5,859.00 41,772.28 557.4 2.226891 Royal Bank of Scotland Group (The) 353.75 22,429.65 5,369.48 1.19573 Royal Dutch Shell 1,979.00 76,762.27 1,894.82 4.092217 Reed Elsevier 1,110.50 12,631.67 1,493.18 0.673398 Rio Tinto 2,882.00 40,053.90 1,410.71 2.135284 Royal Mail 499.7 4,992.00 3,059.11 0.266125 Rolls-Royce Group 1,005.50 18,551.42 1,472.54 0.988981 Randgold Resources 4,721.50 4,472.09 167.09 0.238408 RSA Insurance Group 437.95 4,491.02 422.08 0.239417 SABMiller 3,613.50 59,022.15 489.83 3.146486 Sainsbury (J) 261.95 5,082.76 1,121.37 0.270963 Schroders 3,410.50 7,698.32 103.31 0.410399 Sage Group (The) 574 6,146.55 1,121.37 0.327674 Shire 5,522.50 32,452.10 336.48 1.73003 Sky 1,090.50 18,737.29 730.23 0.99889 Standard Life 494.7 9,676.58 1,523.99 0.515861 Smiths Group 1,184.50 4,587.31 556.05 0.244551 Smith Nephew 1,142.50 10,181.02 1,318.61 0.542753 Sports Direct International 656.5 3,940.89 644.35 0.21009 SSE 1,659.50 16,842.40 1,005.04 0.897873 Standard Chartered 1,059.25 26,885.31 1,472.62 1.433263 St James's Place 933.25 4,954.24 297.52 0.264112 Severn Trent 2,180.00 5,197.73 165.09 0.277092 Travis Perkins 2,170.00 5,407.12 188.52 0.288255 Tesco 220.5 17,964.02 6,688.61 0.957667 TUI AG 1,208.50 7,156.56 262.15 0.381518 Taylor Wimpey 183.95 6,214.11 16,753.87 0.331276 Unilever 2,870.50 37,220.32 810.47 1.984225 United Utilities Group 1,005.50 6,846.16 509.48 0.364971 Vodafone Group 241.4 60,077.78 28,906.81 3.202762 Weir Group 1,889.00 4,084.11 303.2 0.217725 Wolseley 4,031.50 10,477.69 227.67 0.558568 WPP Group 1,571.50 20,639.98 1,165.92 1.100323 Whitbread 5,297.50 9,650.35 124.8 0.514463 1,875,811.49 100 FTSE 100 Index Value Total Market Value 1,875,811.49 Index Divisor 100 Index Value 18758.1149 Calculation of FTSE 100 Index The investment managers would be recommending the investors to the companies that are listed on the FTSE 100 index. It is known that, FTSE 100s companies ensure better return on being invested on their shares. Apart from that, the share prices of these companies are usually stable which ensures stable return on the amount of investment made by the company. As a result of that, investors from different background are interested to invest in the companies of FTSE 100 Index. Apart from that, the investment managers would have a thought that share price of smaller companies fluctuates on a continuous basis and would not provide constant return to the investors. On the other hand, it has been mentioned by Arya and Glover (2014) that making investment in the shares of smaller firms is normally considered to hold a high percentage of risk. The reason is that the market of the smaller companies hare is repeatedly less liquid in comparison to the shares of big companies. 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