BFF5270 Funds Management (S1-2024)

Due: End of Teaching Week 11. Friday 17th  May, 11.55 pm.

Submission: Submit electronically via Moodle

Weight Assigned: 30 %

1. Instructions

•   This is an individual assignment. Turnitin will be operating, and penalties will be applied where appropriate referencing is not provided, or a high level of commonality is noted with other submissions.

•   This assessment is designed to test your achievement of Objectives 1 to 5 as detailed in the Unit Outline.

•   The maximum word limit for this assignment is 2,000 words. The word count includes Title Page, Executive Summary and body of the report. The Bibliography, Table of Contents, tables and appendices are excluded from the word count limit. Penalties may be applied for excessive word count.

•   The assignment will be marked out of a total of 100 marks and will count toward 30% of the total marks for this Unit.

•    Work submitted for assessment must be accompanied by a completed and signed assignment coversheet (link available on Moodle). It can be uploaded separately in the Moodle portal.

•    The assignment should be submitted in PDF format.

•    The assignment must be submitted via Moodle by the due date and time. Please note penalties will apply to late submissions. A penalty of 5% of the total mark allocated to this assessment task will be deducted for each day, or part thereof, if it is late. Multiple submissions are permitted up to the due date and time. You can upload draft copies before the submission date but when you are ready to submit, remember to push the submit button!

2. Style of your report

Your written report must include the following components - reports not in this form will be penalised:

•    A Title Page for the report

•    An Executive Summary which highlights the scope of the report, and its most significant findings and recommendations (typically 1/2 page at most)

•    A Table of Contents

•    An appropriate and brief introduction that discusses the purpose of the report, the report structure (which should reflect the scope of work performed) and any limitations

•    The body of the report should include the outcomes of the research and analysis

•    A conclusion that summarises the analysis and findings

•    Appendices should be used for detailed and/or large tables and figures; and

•    A bibliography of references used should be included.

As this is a professional standard report it is important to use general principles of good business report writing to communicate succinctly. Use of page numbers, tables, figures, and summarised lists is encouraged. When using tables and figures remember to label them and reference and discuss their content in the text. Detailed analysis can be contained in tables and appendices in preference to the main text. Each section of the report should flow logically to the next and be consistent in argument. Remember diagrams are not included in your word count and may convey information more succinctly. An important tip - to avoid words being counted in your total, you can copy and paste tables and figures as embedded pictures.

Work submitted for assessment must be consistent with the guidelines set down in the Student Q-Manual, which is the faculty's student guide for producing quality work on time. Marks may be deducted where in-text citations and/or the reference list is not consistent with the American Psychological Association (APA) style, which is illustrated in the Q Manual.

3. Word Limit

It is easy to write a lot in this assignment. Keep your discussion concise and use tables, charts, and graphs to illustrate your arguments (it is a business report!). To save your word count, you can copy and paste tables as a picture. Remember, to place large tables in the  Appendix so that the body of your report is not interrupted for the reader.

4. Case Study

A key client of yours, Holygrail Grammer is an independent school that was established over 100 years ago. The school has amassed a large pool of capital throughout the years from Foundation donors. These funds are drawn upon to fund its Capital Works and Scholarships programs.

Holygrail has historically stated that it has a very low risk tolerance and has invested its capital conservatively and in line with the below Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) . Holigrail’s board is however disappointed that the average return generated over the past five years has been too low and wants double digit returns over the next 10 years.

You are a Principal Consultant at ThinkFast Advisors and have been appointed as the key consultant to Holygrail. Through a series of discovery meetings, you identify the following matters:

-      Total investable assets of $20 million

-     Annual scholarship funding commitments of $250,000

-     Annual expenditure to maintain existing buildings and campus gardens of $500,000

-      Holygrail plans to build a new science laboratory over the coming 12 months at a total cost of $8 million

-      Low to moderate risk tolerance with an aversion to capital losses

-      Holigrail’s fee budget (ie. what they are willing to pay for investment) is 1%.

To review your proposal, Holygrail has recently established an Investment Committee comprising the following members:

-      Principal

-      Director of Finance (responsible for all financials)

-      Head of Foundation (representing the school’s key fund raising Committee)

-      Head of Parents association

-      Independent member, Tom Platz

In terms of the Investment Committee, you are advised of the following details:

-      The Director of Finance is married to the Principal

-      The Head of Parents Association (Alan) is a property developer and the owner of the

business that will undertake the Science Lab project. During the tendering process, Alan used knowledge of the school’s financials and competitor quotes, to under cost his company’s quote to guarantee that his business got the job. He does however plan to increase this materially once contracts are signed citing “increased raw material costs” so that he can make a healthy profit.