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Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Regarding Lee's order for employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut IPO, and his purchase of the Tasty Doughnut IPO for the Ultra
Airlines Pension account, which of the following statements is most accurate?
- A. Lee's order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnuts IPO is acceptable, but Lee has violated CFA Institute Standards by placing the IPO order in the Ultra Airlines pension account.
- B. Lee's order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnuts IPO is acceptable, since it is appropriate for his clients' employee benefit plans, and Lee has followed the CFA Institute Standards by notifying clients about recent compensation calculation changes, but Lee has violated CFA Institute Standards by placing the IPO order in the Ultra Airlines pension account.
- C. By allocating the Tasty Doughnuts IPO to employee benefit accounts only, Lee is discriminating against other accounts who may have also wanted to participate in the Tasty IPO. Purchasing shares in the Tasty Doughnuts IPO for the Ultra Airlines account is a violation of CFA Institute Standards, since it violates the investment policy statement (IPS).
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standards III (A), III (B), and III (C). Under CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, Lee must adopt a trade allocation procedure that allocates assets in an equitable manner. By allocating the Tasty IPO to only employee benefit accounts, Lee is discriminating against other accounts that could also benefit from participating in the IPO. Lee has violated Standard III(B) Duties to Clients - Fair Dealing, which states that members must deal fairly and objectively with all clients.
Purchasing Tasty Doughnuts for Ultra Airlines's underfunded pension fund without their knowledge and consent is a clear violation of Standard III(A) Duties to
Clients -Loyalty, Prudence, and Care. Lee placed his own interest in potentially increasing his bonus ahead of his client's interests. Lee is required to comply with
Ultra Airlines's investment constraint of not investing in IPOs. Lee should have also considered Standard III(C) "" Duties to Clients - Suitability, which requires CFA
Institute members to ensure that an investment is suitable, and consistent with the client's written objectives, mandates and constraints prior to taking such investment action. By violating this express prohibition from investing in IPOs in the Ultra Airlines pension account, Lee has violated Standard III(C). (Study
Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Mason used two allocation plans for the Tasty IPO: the first decision was based on the orientation of the account (income vs. capital gains), and the second decision was based on the relative size of each account. Did Mason violate CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct with respect to either allocation decision?
- A. Both Mason's allocation screens, based on orientation of the account, and on relative size of account, violate CFA Institute Standards.
- B. Both of Mason's allocation screens appear to fully conform with CFA Institute Standards.
- C. Mason's pro rata allocation system is acceptable, but he should have allocated some IPO shares to his income-oriented accounts.
Answer : B
Explanation:
Standard III(B). Standard III(B) - Duties to Clients - Fair Dealing requires that all clients be dealt with fairly and objectively. Note that Standard III(B) does not state
"equally". In this case, Mason had a reasonable basis to include and exclude clients based on their perceived risk level. Lower risk clients were excluded and higher risk clients were included. Further, Mason has a reasonable basis of allocating the stock he receives; i.e. assets under management. Since both measures seem objective and reasonable, it appears that Mason dealt fairly with his clients. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Which of the following is most likely consistent with CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct?
- A. Lee assumed that Ultra's Tasty IPO position was acceptable as an intraday transaction.
- B. Improved performance in Lee's employee benefit plan accounts increases his bonus.
- C. Mason relied on Lee's investment decision as adequate rationale to buy into the Tasty IPO.
Answer : B
Explanation:
Standard V1(A). There is no violation inherent in tying a manager's compensation to the performance of his accounts. There is, of course, a risk is that managers will take inappropriate actions in an attempt to boost their performance, as Lee has in this case. But, there is no violation of Standard V1(A ) Conflicts of Interest -
Disclosure of Conflicts. Whether Ultra owned a stock at the end of any particular day is not relevant so long as they did own the stock at some time. Thus Lee has violated Standard III (C) Duties to Clients - Suitability. Mason did not have a reasonable basis to buy into the IPO solely because Lee had placed an order. Thus
Mason has violated standard V(A) Investment Analysis, Recommendations, and Action - Diligence and Reasonable Basis. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Has there been any violation of CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct relating to either the change in the average holdings of the FIF during the first six months of Parsons's leadership, or in Parsons's subsequent investment in the non-dividend paying stocks?
- A. Both actions. The change in average holdings, and the purchase of non-dividend paying stocks, are violations of CFA Institute Standards.
- B. The change in average holdings would not have been a violation of CFA Institute Standards if client notification had occurred before the change was initiated.
- C. There is no violation regarding the change in average holdings, but the purchase of non-dividend paying stocks is a violation.
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standard 111(C). The prospectus requires that he hold stocks that are greater than $2.5 billion in market cap and have paid a dividend for two quarters. Parsons has remained in compliance with the market cap requirement. Parsons decision to include non-dividend paying stocks is a clear violation of the FIF mandate. The fact that four of the five stocks initiated dividends, and that these stocks apparently outperformed, is irrelevant. This is a violation of Standard III(C ) Duties to
Clients - Suitability. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Which of the following statements is most accurate with regard to Ryan's discussion of the new Plasma Fund with FIMCO clients?
- A. Ryan is within the CFA Institute Standards because the Plasma Fund was only in the planning stages at the time of her discussion.
- B. Ryan is within the CFA Institute Standards by discussing Plasma with the clients, since the product she was discussing did not compete with her present employer (FIMCO) in any way.
- C. Ryan has violated CFA Institute Standard IV(A) - Duties to Employers - Loyalty. In the meeting with potential clients, even though FIMCO had no experience or research capability to enter the risk arbitrage market, Ryan is offering an asset management service that is directing funds away from FIMCO.
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standard IV(A). By soliciting potential clients while still being an employee of FIMCO, Ryan has violated Standard IV(A) Duties to Employers - Loyalty, which states (hat in matters related to their employment, members and candidates must act for the benefit of their employer and not deprive their employer of the advantage of their skills and abilities, divulge confidential information, or otherwise cause harm to their employer. The standard applies regardless of whether
Ryan is on her own time. Even though FIMCO does not have a risk arbitrage product and FIMCO had actually decided against going into the risk arbitrage business, Ryan is offering a service (asset management) that is in competition with her employers business and will direct funds away from FIMCO. (Study
Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Susan Foley, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer of Federated Investment Management Co. (FIMCO), a large investment management firm that includes a family of mutual funds as well as individually managed accounts. The individually managed accounts include individuals, personal trusts, and employee benefit plans. In the past few months, Foley has encountered a couple of problems.
The Tasty IPO -
Most portfolio managers of FIMCO have not participated in the initial public offering (IPO) market in recent years. However, recent changes to the compensation calculation at FIMCO have tied manager bonuses to portfolio performance. The changes were outlined in a letter that was sent out to clients and prospects shortly before the new bonus structure took effect. Carl Lee, CFA, is one portfolio manager who believes that investing in IPOs may add to his client's equity performance and, in turn, increase his bonus. While Lee's individual clients have done quite well this year, his employee benefit plans have suffered as a result of limited exposure to the strongest performing sector of the market. Lee has placed an order for all employee benefit plans to receive an allocation of the Tasty Doughnut
IPO. Tasty is an over-subscribed IPO that Lee knew would make money for his clients. When he placed the order, Lee's assistant reminded him that one pension plan. Ultra Airlines, was explicitly prohibited from investing in IPOs in its investment policy statement, due to the under-funded status of the pension plan. Lee responded that the Tasty IPO would never actually be owned in Ultra's account, because he would sell the IPO stock before the end of the day and realize a profit before the position ever hit the books.
Another manager, Franz Mason, CFA, who manages accounts for about 150 individuals, is also interested in the Tasty IPO. Mason visits Lee's portfolio assistant and quizzes him about Lee's participation in the Tasty deal. Mason is sure that Lee would not have bought into Tasty unless he had done his homework. Mason places an order for 10,000 shares of the IPO. Mason returns to his desk and begins to allocate the IPO shares among his clients. Mason divides his client base into two groups: clients who are income-oriented and clients who arc capital gains-oriented. Mason believes those clients that are income-oriented are fairly risk averse and could not replace lost capital if the Tasty Doughnut deal lost money. Mason believes the capital gains-oriented accounts arc better able to withstand the potential loss associated with the Tasty IPO. Accordingly, Mason allocates his 10,000 share order of the Tasty IPO strictly to his capital appreciation clients using a pro rata allocation based on the size of the assets under management in each account.
FIMCO Income Fund (FIF)
Over the past three years, the FIF, with $5 billion in assets, has been the company's best performing mutual fund. Jane Ryan, CFA, managed the FIF for seven years, but resigned one year ago to start her own hedge fund. Under Ryan, the FIF invested in large cap stocks with reliable dividends. The fund's prospectus specifies that FIF will invest only in stocks that have paid a dividend for at least two quarters, and have a market capitalization in excess of $2.5 billion. Foley appointed FIMCO's next best manager (based on 5-year performance numbers) Steve Parsons, CFA, to replace Ryan. Parsons had been a very successful manager of the FIMCO Opportunity Fund, which specialized in small capitalization stocks. Six months after Parsons took over the helm at FIF. the portfolio had changed. The average market capitalization of FIF's holdings was $12.8 billion, as opposed to $21 billion a year ago. Over the same period, the average dividend yield on the portfolio had fallen from 3.8% to 3.1%. The performance of the FIF lagged its peer group for the first time in three years. In response to the lagging performance, Parsons purchased five stocks six months ago. Parsons bought all five stocks, none of which paid a dividend at the time of purchase, in anticipation that each company was likely to initiate dividends in the near future. So far, four of the stocks have initiated dividend payments, and their performance has benefited as a result. The fifth stock did not initiate a dividend, and Parsons sold the position last week. Largely due to the addition of the five new stocks, the FIF's performance has led its peer group over the past six months.
Before leaving FIMCO, Ryan had told Foley that above-average returns from both the management and client side could be gained from entering into the risk- arbitrage hedge fund market. Ryan had tried to convince FIMCO management to enter the risk-arbitrage market, but the firm determined that no one had the experience or research capability to run a risk-arbitrage operation. As a result, Ryan started the Plasma Fund LLC one month after leaving FIMCO. Foley remembers seeing Ryan at the annual FIMCO client dinner parly (before she left the firm) discussing the profits to be made from risk-arbitrage investing with several large FIF shareholders. Ryan mentioned that she would be opening the Plasma Fund to these FIMCO clients, several of whom made substantial investments in the first months of Plasma Fund's life. After Ryan resigned and left her office, Foley performed an inventory of firm assets signed out to Ryan. One of the copies of the proprietary stock selection software packages, FIMCO-SelectStock, assigned to Ryan was missing along with several of the SelectStock operating manuals. When Foley contacts Ryan about the missing software and manuals, Ryan states that the reason she took the SelectStock software was that it was an out of date version that FIMCO's information technology staff had urged all managers to discard.
Which of the following statements is most accurate with regard to Ryan's taking the out of date version of the SelectStock software?
- A. The inappropriate misappropriation of the software and manuals is a violation of CFA Institute Standard IV(A) - Duties to Employers - Loyalty, regardless of the circumstances. Written permission from the employer (FIMCO) should have been requested and received.
- B. Ryan's possession of the out of date software is perfectly acceptable, since her IT staff had made it clear that is was no longer needed by FIMCO.
- C. Ryan's possession of the out of date software is perfectly acceptable, since the software is of no use to FIMCO, and the fact that it was an outdated version indicates that it had no economic value.
Answer : A
Explanation:
Standard IV(A). Ryan violated Standard IV(A) Duties to Employers - Loyalty by misappropriating employer property. Ryan should not have taken the SelectStock software or manuals off the firm's property, as they are owned by the firm until disposed of by the firm. It does not matter if the SelectStock software and manuals are out of date or even just about to be thrown away, they are not Ryan's property. Ryan should have asked for written permission to take the software and manuals. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, Gillis may accept the invitation to attend the conference in Binaria without violating the Standards:
- A. so long as she pays her own travel expenses and refuses the gift of emeralds.
- B. so long as she refuses the gift of emeralds.
- C. since she would be the guest of a sovereign government.
Answer : B
Explanation:
Standard 1(B). Attending the conference would be appropriate, but Gillis must avoid any situation that would affect her independence, in order to properly comply with Standard 1(B) Professionalism - Independence and Objectivity. Since Gingeria is remotely located, it is reasonable for the government to pay her travel expenses. However, the gift of emeralds must be refused. The fact that the host is a sovereign government does not matter""the obvious objective is to give the analysts a favorable bias toward the currency and the proposed reforms. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
Given that Gillis's weekly reports to clients are market summaries rather than specific investment recommendations, what are her record-keeping obligations according to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct? Gillis must:
- A. maintain records of her conversations with local government officials and also keep copies of the research reports prepared by local analysts.
- B. only maintain records of her conversations with local government officials and her own summaries of the research reports prepared by local analysts.
- C. keep her own summaries of the research reports prepared by local analysts, but she has no obligation to maintain records of her conversations with local government officials.
Answer : A
Explanation:
Standard V(C). Gilfis's reports may not be specific investment recommendations, but as they are client communications she should keep either electronic or hard copy records of her conversations with the government officials and copies of the research reports she used in developing her weekly summary reports, in order to comply with Standard V(C ) Investment Analysis, Recommendations, and Actions - Record Retention, (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
Regarding Gillis's transactions in the Binaria currency, the Standards have been violated by:
- A. taking the long position and by selling the position before issuing a recommendation to clients.
- B. selling the position before issuing the recommendation to clients, although taking the long position was not a violation.
- C. not disclosing the trades in her report since the trades are acceptable so long as they are disclosed.
Answer : A
Explanation:
Standard V1(B). Gillis is attempting to trade ahead of her employer and her clients in violation of the Standards. She was wrong to take the long position in anticipation of a positive recommendation and wrong to sell the position before issuing her negative recommendation. These trades were wrong regardless of whether they were disclosed. In accordance with Standard VI(B) Conflicts of Interest - Priority of Transactions, client interests must take precedence over personal interests. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, Howlett's best course of action with regard to the suspected violations by Gillis would be to:
- A. meet with Gillis in person, explain the nature of the violations, and seek assurances that such violations will not recur.
- B. warn Gillis to cease the trading activities and report the violation to Howlett's supervisor immediately.
- C. place limits on Gillis's personal trading and increase monitoring of Gillis's personal trades.
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standard 1(A). Warning Gillis and/or reporting the violation up Trout's management structure are inadequate solutions. Limiting the trading activity and increased monitoring to prevent future violations are more appropriate initial responses, in accordance with Standard 1(A) Professionalism - Knowledge of the Law. (Study
Session l,LOS2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
Based on the information given, and according to CFA Institute Standards, which of the following statements best describes Trent's compliance procedures relating to personal trading in foreign currencies? The compliance procedures:
- A. appear adequate since Howlett was able to identify potential violations.
- B. appear adequate, but Howlett's monitoring of Gillis's trades indicates poor supervisory responsibility.
- C. should include both duplicate confirmations of transactions and preclearance procedures for personal trades.
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standard VI(B). The main problem in this case appears to be that there is no system to identify potential front-running violations before they occur. Standard VI(B)
Conflicts of Interest - Priority of Transactions, recommends both preclearance of trades and duplicate trade confirmations as procedures for compliance. (Study
Session 1, LOS 2.a)
Martha Gillis, CFA, trades currencies for Trent, LLC. Trent is one of the largest investment firms in the world, and its foreign currency department trades more currency on a daily basis than any other firm. Gillis specializes in currencies of emerging nations.
Gillis received an invitation from the new Finance Minister of Binaria, one of the emerging nations included in Gillis's portfolio. The minister has proposed a number of fiscal reforms that he hopes will help support Binaria's weakening currency. He is asking currency specialists from several of the largest foreign exchange banks to visit Binaria for a conference on the planned reforms. Because of its remote location, Binaria will pay all travel expenses of the attendees, as well as lodging in government-owned facilities in the capital city. As a further inducement, attendees will also receive small bags of uncut emeralds (as emeralds are a principal export of Binaria), with an estimated market value of $500.
Gillis has approximately 25 clients that she deals with regularly, most of whom are large financial institutions interested in trading currencies. One of the services
Gillis provides to these clients is a weekly summary of important trends in the emerging market currencies she follows. Gillis talks to local government officials and reads research reports prepared by local analysts, which are paid for by Trent. These inputs, along with Gillis's interpretation, form the basis of most of Gillis's weekly reports.
Gillis decided to attend the conference in Binaria. In anticipation of a favorable reception for the proposed reforms, Gillis purchased a long Binaria currency position in her personal account before leaving on the trip. After hearing the finance minister's proposals in person, however, she decides that the reforms are poorly timed and likely to cause the currency to depreciate. She issues a negative recommendation upon her return. Before issuing the recommendation, she liquidates the long position in her personal account but does not take a short position.
Gillis's supervisor, Steve Howlett, CFA, has been reviewing Gillis's personal trading. Howlett has not seen any details of the Binaria currency trade but has found two other instances in the past year where he believes Gillis has violated Trent's written policies regarding trading in personal accounts.
One of the currency trading strategies employed by Trent is based on interest rate parity. Trent monitors spot exchange rates, forward rates, and short-term government interest rates. On the rare occasions when the forward rates do not accurately reflect the interest differential between two countries, Trent places trades to take advantage of the riskless arbitrage opportunity. Because Trent is such a large player in the exchange markets, its transactions costs are very low, and Trent is often able to take advantage of mispricings that are too small for others to capitalize on. In describing these trading opportunities to clients, Trent suggests that "clients willing to participate in this type of arbitrage strategy are guaranteed riskless profits until the market pricing returns to equilibrium."
Trent's arbitrage trading based on interest rate parity is successful mostly due to Trent's large size, which provides it with an advantage relative to smaller, competing currency trading firms. Has Trent violated CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct with respect to its trading strategy or its guarantee of results?
- A. The trading strategy and guarantee of results arc both violations cf CFA Institute Standards.
- B. The trading strategy is legitimate and does not violate CFA Institute Standards, but the guarantee of investment return is a violation of Standards.
- C. Both the trading strategy and guarantee statement comply with CFA Institute Standards.
Answer : C
Explanation:
Standards 11(B) and V(B). The strategy based on inierest rate parity would provide tisklcss profits until the prices moved into equilibrium and the forward rates accurately reflected the interest rate differentials. Trout's guarantee is therefore accurate. The low transaction costs available to Trout ate a competitive advantage that can be exploited without violating Standard H(B). (Study Session I, LOS 2.a)
SIMULATION -
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.
Other information to be considered
"¢ Exchange rates (CAD/USD)
Are Hally's statements regarding foreign currency translation correct?
Answer : Answer:
Explanation:
Subsidiaries whose operations are well integrated with the parent will use the parent's currency as the functional currency. When the functional currency is the same as the parent's presentation currency (reporting currency), as it is in this case, the temporal merhod is used. Therefore, Statement 1 is incorrect.
Self-contained, independent subsidiaries whose operating, investing, and financing activities are primarily located in the local market will use the local currency as the functional currency. When the functional currency is not the same as the parent's presentation currency (reporting currency), as in this case, the all-current method is used. Therefore, Statement 2 is incorrect. (Study Session 6, LOS 23.c)
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.
Other information to be considered
"¢ Exchange rates (CAD/USD)
Which of the following best describes the effect on the parent's fiscal 2008 sales when translated to Canadian dollars? Sales, relative to what it would have been if the CAD/USD exchange rate had not changed, will be:
- A. lower because the U.S. dollar depreciated during fiscal 2008.
- B. higher because the average value of the Canadian dollar depreciated during fiscal 2008.
- C. lower because the U.S. dollar appreciated during fiscal 2008.
Answer : A
Explanation:
Sales will be lower after translation because of the depreciating U.S. dollar. (Study Session 6, LOS 23.d)
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.
Other information to be considered
"¢ Exchange rates (CAD/USD)
As compared to the temporal method, which of the following financial statement elements of the parent are lower under the all-current method?
- A. Cash and accounts receivable.
- B. Depreciation expense and cost of goods sold.
- C. Common stock and dividends paid.
Answer : B
Explanation:
Depreciation expense and COGS are remeasured at the historical rate under the temporal method. Under the all-current method, depreciation and COGS are translai at the average rate. Since the U.S. dollar is depreciating, depreciation expense and COGS are lower under the all-current method. (Study Session 6, LOS
23.d)
30 days access 