CFA Level 1 – Corporate Finance

Study Session 12: Corporate Finance (1)
Reading 31 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations
11 LOSs | 3 Quizzes
Describe corporate governance
Describe a company’s stakeholder groups and compare interests of stakeholder groups
Describe principal–agent and other relationships in corporate governance and the conflicts that may arise in these relationships
Describe stakeholder management
Describe mechanisms to manage stakeholder relationships and mitigate associated risks
Describe functions and responsibilities of a company’s board of directors and its committees
Describe market and non-market factors that can affect stakeholder relationships and corporate governance
Identify potential risks of poor corporate governance and stakeholder management and identify benefits from effective corporate governance and stakeholder management
Describe factors relevant to the analysis of corporate governance and stakeholder management
Describe environmental and social considerations in investment analysis
Describe how environmental, social, and governance factors may be used in investment analysis
Reading 31 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations – Quiz 1
Reading 31 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations – Quiz 2
Reading 31 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations – Quiz 3
Reading 32 Capital Budgeting
 7 LOSs | 3 Quizzes
Describe the capital budgeting process and distinguish among the various categories of capital projects
Describe the basic principles of capital budgeting
Explain how the evaluation and selection of capital projects is affected by mutually exclusive projects, project sequencing, and capital rationing
Calculate and interpret net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period, discounted payback period, and profitability index (PI) of a single capital project
Explain the NPV profile, compare the NPV and IRR methods when evaluating independent and mutually exclusive projects, and describe the problems associated with each of the evaluation methods
Contrast the NPV decision rule to the IRR decision rule and identify problems associated with the IRR rule
Describe expected relations among an investment’s NPV, company value, and share price
Reading 32 Capital Budgeting – Quiz 1
Reading 32 Capital Budgeting – Quiz 2
Reading 32 Capital Budgeting – Quiz 3
Reading 33 Cost of Capital
 12 LOSs | 3 Quizzes
Calculate and interpret the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of a company
Describe how taxes affect the cost of capital from different capital sources
Describe the use of target capital structure in estimating WACC and how target capital structure weights may be determined
Explain how the marginal cost of capital and the investment opportunity schedule are used to determine the optimal capital budget
Explain the marginal cost of capital’s role in determining the net present value of a project
Calculate and interpret the cost of debt capital using the yield-to-maturity approach and the debt-rating approach
Calculate and interpret the cost of noncallable, nonconvertible preferred stock
Calculate and interpret the cost of equity capital using the capital asset pricing model approach, the dividend discount model approach, and the bond-yieldplus risk-premium approach
Calculate and interpret the beta and cost of capital for a project
Describe uses of country risk premiums in estimating the cost of equity
Describe the marginal cost of capital schedule, explain why it may be upward sloping with respect to additional capital, and calculate and interpret its break-points
Explain and demonstrate the correct treatment of flotation costs
Reading 33 Cost of Capital – Quiz 1
Reading 33 Cost of Capital – Quiz 2
Reading 33 Cost of Capital – Quiz 3
Study Session 11: Corporate Finance (2)
Reading 34 Measures of Leverage
 5 LOSs | 2 Quizzes
Define and explain leverage, business risk, sales risk, operating risk, and financial risk and classify a risk
Calculate and interpret the degree of operating leverage, the degree of financial leverage, and the degree of total leverage
Analyze the effect of financial leverage on a company’s net income and return on equity
Calculate the breakeven quantity of sales and determine the company’s net income at various sales levels
Calculate and interpret the operating breakeven quantity of sales
Reading 34 Measures of Leverage – Quiz 1
Reading 34 Measures of Leverage – Quiz 2
Reading 35 Working Capital Management
 7 LOSs | 3 Quizzes
Describe primary and secondary sources of liquidity and factors that influence a company’s liquidity position;
Compare a company’s liquidity measures with those of peer companies
Evaluate 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
Describe how different types of cash flows affect a company’s net daily cash position
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
Evaluate a company’s management of accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable over time and compared to peer companies
Evaluate the choices of short-term funding available to a company and recommend a financing method
Reading 35 Working Capital Management – Quiz 1
Reading 35 Working Capital Management – Quiz 2
Reading 35 Working Capital Management – Quiz 3
Corporate Finance – Exam
Previous LOS
Next LOS

Describe principal–agent and other relationships in corporate governance and the conflicts that may arise in these relationships

CFA Level 1 – Corporate Finance Reading 31 Introduction to Corporate Governance and Other ESG Considerations Describe principal–agent and other relationships in corporate governance and the conflicts that may arise in these relationships

The principal-agent relationship (agency relationship) is prone to conflict of interest. 

Shareholders and director/manager relationships

Shareholders appoint directors and management to maximize their return (as per shareholder theory) but management may act to maximize their remuneration. Management may be more risk-averse than shareholders because shareholders might be holding a stock in a diversified portfolio. This may hurt a company’s value creation. Further, management often has access to information which shareholders do not have (referred to as information asymmetry) and they may take strategic decisions which are not necessarily in the best interest of shareholders. Similarly, (external) directors rely on management for obtaining an understanding of operations and may be misled if they do not have independent review available.

Controlling shareholders and minority shareholders

In straight voting (one vote per share) the controlling shareholders may overshadow the minority shareholders in almost all corporate decisions. They may use their control to receive a better deal during takeover and/or make a company enter into a transaction with a related party of the controlling group (to the detriment of the company and mainly, the minority shareholders). This problem may be more pronounced in dual-class structure, in which two different classes of shares have different voting rights.

Shareholder vs creditor interests

Shareholders are willing to take on high risk in the hope of generating superior residual returns but creditors are not comfortable with high risk projects because they increase default risk. Shareholders might want to raise additional debt capital for new projects, but creditors do not want a company to increase debt. Distribution of excessive dividends also does not sit well with creditors.

Other stakeholder conflicts include:

  • Shareholders and customers: shareholders might want a company to charge higher prices, but customers do not.
  • Customers and suppliers: when a company offers too lenient credit policy to customers, payments to suppliers might be delayed. 
  • Shareholders and government/regulators: shareholders might want to adopt accounting policies which minimize their tax burden.
Previous LOS
Back to Reading
Next LOS