You recently inherited a lump sum of £10,000 and you have decided to save this to help fund the purchase of your first property which you are hoping to achieve in the next 5 years. You have also established that you can save £100 per month from your employment income i

There are three parts to this assignment. You must answer all three parts. Part 1 and Part 2 are each worth 40% of the overall mark and Part 3 is worth 20%. Any reference lists are excluded from the word count. Part 1 (500-1000 words) (40%) You recently inherited a lump sum of £10,000 and you have decided to save this to help fund the purchase of your first property which you are hoping to achieve in the next 5 years. You have also established that you can save £100 per month from your employment income into a personal pension plan. You want to benefit from diversification so have decided to invest this in a pooled investment fund. In order to help finalise your savings and investment plan write a short report which addresses the following: •Explain what types of savings might be suitable for the lump sum and identify a specific product you might consider with the rationale for your selection. •Explain what types of pooled investment funds are available and identify a specific fund which you might consider. Summarise the key features of this fund including its objective, its risk and performance and any associated costs. Using this information justify your selection. Part 2 (500-1000 words) (40%) Choose a company from the FTSE350 index (excluding investment trusts and Next plc) and access the latest annual report. For a list of the constituent companies see the London stock exchange website. You work for a fund manager who is considering investing in this company and have been tasked with reviewing the company’s compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code*. Write a short report providing an assessment of one of the following Board committees based on the latest annual report. Committee Relevant Provisions* Reporting Provision* Nominations Committee 17-23 23 Audit Committee 24-31 26 Remuneration Committee 32-41 41 Page 2 of 3 Andrew Cotton 2020/21 AG151 Semester 2 Assignment Part 3 (20%) Three projects are being considered for investment by Merlin plc and the incremental cashflows associated with each is summarised below: Project A B C Initial investment (£100,000) (£200,000) (£100,000) Year 1 £70,000 £130,000 £75,000 Year 2 £35,000 £130,000 £30,000 Year 3 £35,000 – £30,000 Assume the cash inflows arise at the end of each year, each project can only be undertaken as a whole project and the appropriate discount rate is 12%. (a)Calculate the following for each project and rank the projects in each case: •Payback (including part years) •NPV •IRR •Profitability index (show manual workings to 2 decimal places for at least one project) (b)Recommend which project(s) the company should undertake in the following scenarios: •The three projects are independent •The three projects are mutually exclusive •Merlin’s budget for these projects is £300,000 In each case explain the basis for your recommendation and how this relates to the rankings in part (a).