P4 Advanced Financial Management
Role and responsibility towards stakeholders:
Ethical issues continue to appear regularly as an optional discussion question, normally with practical financial issues from elsewhere in the syllabus. The discussion question is normally one of the easier optional questions.
Economic value added and ratio analysis can also be used to appraise the performance of a company.
Advanced investment appraisal:
The compulsory question often features an NPV question with an analysis of risk and/or financing; it could easily be set in the context of an overseas investment.
Cost of capital calculations are regularly tested, make sure that you are comfortable adjusting betas for differences in gearing. Real options are also a popular theme.
Acquisitions and mergers:
This exam normally contains a question involving valuations which the examiner sees as a crucial part of the syllabus; valuations questions are also likely to cover strategic and financing issues.
Corporate reconstruction:
A question could also ask you to evaluate a management buy out i.e. whether a business will be worth more if it splits itself up.
Advanced risk management:
We would expect to see a numerical risk management question featuring either interest rate or exchange rate hedging; currency hedging was tested in June 2011.
Role and responsibility towards stakeholders:
Ethical issues continue to appear regularly as an optional discussion question, normally with practical financial issues from elsewhere in the syllabus. The discussion question is normally one of the easier optional questions.
Economic value added and ratio analysis can also be used to appraise the performance of a company.
Advanced investment appraisal:
The compulsory question often features an NPV question with an analysis of risk and/or financing; it could easily be set in the context of an overseas investment.
Cost of capital calculations are regularly tested, make sure that you are comfortable adjusting betas for differences in gearing. Real options are also a popular theme.
Acquisitions and mergers:
This exam normally contains a question involving valuations which the examiner sees as a crucial part of the syllabus; valuations questions are also likely to cover strategic and financing issues.
Corporate reconstruction:
A question could also ask you to evaluate a management buy out i.e. whether a business will be worth more if it splits itself up.
Advanced risk management:
We would expect to see a numerical risk management question featuring either interest rate or exchange rate hedging; currency hedging was tested in June 2011.