CFA Level II Training Questions are Available

1.The New York-based Irwin Goldreich Schmidt (IGS) is a mid-sized private equity firm with $300 million capital raised from its investors. Amid a turbulent year, the firm has recently dropped its unsuccessful $100 million bid for a Norwegian media company and is now aggressively searching for new venture or buyout investments in the Eurozone. After several months of intense search IGS believes it identified two potential investments:

? Sverig, a rapidly expanding Swedish start-up construction company.

? L'Offre, a struggling French department store in existence since the late 19th Century.

Following several rounds of successful negotiations, IGS makes a $20 million investment in Sverig and a $100 million leveraged buyout investment in L'Offre, committing to an additional $100 million for possible future capital drawdowns. It retains all of Sverig's managers but replaces L'Offre's management team with experienced IGS managers, many of whom are former company senior executives.

IGS also sets up Sverig-L'Offre Private Equity Fund (SLPEF), a fund to manage both firms. The fund manager's compensation is set at 20% of profits net of fees. IGS also specifies that the manager's profits are calculated on the entire portfolio when portfolio value exceeds invested capital by 30%.

Despite the market's recent turbulence, Sverig's original founders are extremely optimistic and believe the firm could be sold for $400 million in six years. To achieve this, they speculate the firm needs another capital infusion of $40 million in four years in addition to the $20 million capital investment today. Given the high risk of the firm, SLPEFs private equity investors decide that a discount rate of 40% for the first four years and 30% for the last two years is appropriate. The founders of Sverig want to hold 5 million shares.

A common risk factor faced by both IGS investors and the managers of the private equity firms is:

A. market risk but not agency risk.

B. agency risk but not market risk.

C. both market and agency risk.

Answer: A

2.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.

In addition to Statement 6, an appropriately developed investment policy statement is least likely to address which of the following elements?

A. Transportability so as to minimize any disruptions if new managers assume responsibility for the portfolio.

B. Assurances of minimum returns so clients will be better able to ensure their financial goals are met over the long run.

C. Barriers to short-term strategy shifts driven by panic or overconfidence stemming from portfolio performance or changes in market environments.

Answer: B