Course Content
Organizational Forms, Corporate Issuer Features, and Ownership
This is Reading 22 of CFA Level 1, Corporate Issuers, 2024 course. This reading consists of three LOSs, i.e.,: a. compare the organizational forms of businesses b. describe key features of corporate issuers c. compare publicly and privately owned corporate issuers
0/3
USES OF CAPITAL
This chapter is covered under study session 9, reading 28 of the study materials as provided by the CFA Institute. After reading this chapter, the candidate should be able to: a. a describe the capital allocation process and basic principles of capital allocation; b. demonstrate the use of net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) in allocating capital and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each method; c. describe expected relations among a company’s investments, company value, and share price; d. describe types of real options relevant to capital investment; e. describe common capital allocation pitfalls.
0/6
Sources of Capital
This topic is covered under LOS 29 of study session 9. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: a. describe types of financing methods and considerations in their selection; b. describe primary and secondary sources of liquidity and factors that influence a company’s liquidity position; c. compare a company’s liquidity position with that of peer companies; d. evaluate choices of short-term funding.
0/4
Cost of Capital
This chapter is covered under study session 10, reading 30 of the study material as provided by the CFA institute. After reading this chapter, the candidate should be able to: a) calculate and interpret the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of a company; b) describe how taxes affect the cost of capital from different capital sources; c) calculate and interpret the cost of debt capital using the yield-to-maturity approach and the debt-rating approach; d) calculate and interpret the cost of noncallable, nonconvertible preferred stock; e) calculate and interpret the cost of equity capital using the capital asset pricing model approach and the bond yield plus risk premium approach; f) explain and demonstrate beta estimation for public companies, thinly traded public companies, and nonpublic companies; g) explain and demonstrate the correct treatment of flotation costs.
0/10
Measures of Leverage
This chapter is covered under study session 11, reading 34 of the study material as provided by the CFA institute. After reading this chapter, the candidate should be able to: a. Define and explain leverage, business risk, sales risk, operating risk, and financial risk and classify a risk, given a description. b. Calculate and interpret the degree of operating leverage, the degree of financial leverage, and the degree of total leverage. c. Analyze the effect of financial leverage on a company’s net income and return on equity. d. Calculate the breakeven quantity of sales and determine the company’s net income at various sales levels. e. Calculate and interpret the operating breakeven quantity of sales.
0/5
Working Capital Management
This chapter is covered under study session 11, reading 35 of the study material as provided by the CFA institute. After reading this chapter, the candidate should be able to: a. describe primary and secondary sources of liquidity and factors that influence a company’s liquidity position; b. compare a company’s liquidity measures with those of peer companies; c. evaluate the working capital effectiveness of a company based on its operating and cash conversion cycles, and compare the company’s effectiveness with that of peer companies; d. describe how different types of cash flows affect a company’s net daily cash position; e. calculate and interpret comparable yields on various securities, compare portfolio returns against a standard benchmark, and evaluate a company’s short-term investment policy guidelines; f. evaluate a company’s management of accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable over time and compared to peer companies; g. evaluate the choices of short-term funding available to a company and recommend a financing method. 
0/7
Corporate Issuers
About Lesson

LOS A requires us to:

Describe corporate governance

 

Corporate governance is the code of conduct or the practices that control or directs a company. The system of internal controls defines the rights and responsibilities of different groups within the entity.

The companies are actually owned by their shareholders but are generally managed by the group of representatives appointed by them, usually the management or the board of directors. Since it is controlled by the board of directors, there are, at times, conflicts of interest between these two parties. Therefore, there is a need for certain checks, balances, and incentives to minimize and manage these conflicting interests. Corporate governance provides mechanisms to control this conflict of interest between external shareholders and insiders.

The concept of corporate governance, thus, introduces us to two important theories:

a.  The shareholder theory. According to this theory, the most important responsibility of the management is to maximize the return and value to the shareholders.

b.  The stakeholder theory. This theory is a step forward to the shareholder theory. According to this theory, the focus should not only be on the shareholders or the owners. It should be the duty of the management to maximize the benefits of all the stakeholders, including the customers, suppliers, employees, and society at large.

The main objectives of the process of corporate governance are:

1.  to ensure that the board of directors work in the best interest of not just the shareholders, but also stakeholders at large;

2.  to ensure that the company acts lawfully and ethically in all its dealings;

3.  to ensure that all the rights of its stakeholders are preserved and active;

4.  to ensure that appropriate procedures and controls are in place for day-to-day operations of the company; and

5.  to ensure that there is fair reporting of all the activities of the company to its stakeholders.