Finance/ Wealth Management Report Assignment Questions | SMU

Aims and objectives

You are expected to prepare a report for an investment broker. This will involve applying a range of investment valuation methods and techniques, focusing on an assigned company and its outstanding securities (stocks and bonds) by using data from financial statements, ratio analysis and multiples. You will write a professional report addressing specific tasks for this investment product assessment. The correct interpretation of the results will allow you to demonstrate competency in the wide area of wealth management.

This is a take-home task-based assignment which will require a comprehensive understanding of the theories, tools and concepts of wealth and investment management (3000 words).

Tasks:

• Identify the listed company to be analysed
• Collect all the data for the chosen company that could be the input for different valuation methods (stock price and outstanding bond prices)
• Estimate at least 2 different valuation methods for the listed equities (DCF, DDM, multiples, deep value) and bond math for bonds (current yield and YTM) for fixed income securities.

Structure and Coherence of the Broker Report (3000 words +/- 10%)

The essay is a broker report on a company and its outstanding equity and bonds, and will consist of five sections:

• Executive Summary with the Recommendation – either buy, sell, or hold shares in the company and its bonds. This section should also include the current (e.g. 320 pence) and the target price for the equity (e.g. 750 pence in the next 12 months). Not more than 200 words summarising the essay’s scope.
• Company Info and Update – Any recent information, new releases, quarterly or annual results, major contracts, management changes, or any other important information about the company. Not more than 700 words.
• Financial Information – A financial analysis based on the company’s income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow. Not more than 800 words.
• Valuation – using different approaches for the valuation of the equity, such as the CAPM, DDM, DCF, etc. and bond math (current yield, YTM, YTC as applicable) for the fixed income securities. This section is the output from a financial model built in Excel. Not more than 1000 words.
• Investment Thesis & Conclusion – A summary of why you (= the analyst) believe the stock will over- or underperform and what will cause it to reach the share price target included in the recommendation, as well as an opinion on the value of the bonds. Not more than 500 words.

A professional presentation is expected for this report, which should include a reference section citing all the sources consulted. It is recommended to use an appendix with any additional information.

A selection of companies would be proposed on Blackboard for each student who is required to choose one company among them and apply the different valuation methods.

Company 3

• 3M Company (USA)
• Abbott Labs (USA)
• Adobe (USA)
• ADOBE INC/d
• ADV MICRO DEVI/d
• Airbnb (USA)
• AIRBNB INC ORD/d
• ALPHABET INC A/d
• STMicroelectronics (France/Italy)
• Alphabet Inc. (USA)
• Amazon.com Inc. (USA)
• STELLANTIS/d
• AMD (USA)
• Amgen (USA)
• AMGEN/d
• AMRCN ELCTRC O/d
• ANALOG DEVICES/d
• ANSYS INC/d
• Apple Inc. (USA)
• Netflix (USA)
• APPLIED MATL/d
• APPLYN CRP A O/d
• ARM HOLDINGS A/d

• ASML HOLDING D/d
• ASTRZNCA PLC D/d
• ATLASN CRP A O/d
• AUTODESK INC/d
• AUTOMATIC DATA/d
• AXON ENTERPRIS/d
• BAKER HUGHES O/d
• Berkshire Hathaway (USA)
• BHP Group (Australia)
• BIOGEN INC/d
• Boeing (USA)
• BOOKING HOLDIN/d
• BROADCOM INC/d
• CADENCE DESIGN/d
• Caterpillar (USA)
• CDW CORP/d
• CHARTER COMM O/d
• Chevron (USA)
• CINTAS CORP/d
• Cisco Systems (USA)