Posted: September 13th, 2017

Written Report Case Study Analysis

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

 

 

BUSINESS Statistics (BBAC 201)

ASSIGNMENT

WRITTEN REPORT DUE: WEEK 5 SESSION 2

PRESENTATION AND ORAL EXAM: WEEK 6 SESSION 1

Learning Outcome Assessed: a,b,c,e

Weighting: 25% (Report 15% + Presentation 10%)

Written Report Case Study Analysis (2000 words)

Interpreting the returns of Equity Funds – 50 Marks

Having completed your Graduate Degree from Cambridge, you have just got a job at a small

investment advisory firm. Your firm recommends investment funds to Self Managed Super

Fund (SMSF) clients based on their risk and return characteristics.

Your duties include the preparation and presentation of data for the senior investment

advisers in order to assist them in the selection of portfolio investments to be recommended

to clients.

Your supervisor has just asked you and three other members of your team to analyse the risk

and return characteristics of three funds:

1. The “Top 40” fund – invests only in the Top 40 firms by market capitalisation that

are listed on the ASX

2. The “Next 40” fund – invests only in the firms that are ranked from 41 to 80 by

market capitalisation on the ASX

3. The “Small Cap” fund – invests in companies ranked 81 and lower. These are

basically smaller companies and consist of all the remaining companies that are

ranked, by market capitalisation, outside the top 80.

You have been given quarterly returns of each of these funds for the past 10 years and asked

to organise the data in a manner that will facilitate a better understanding of their risk

profiles.

The data is presented later in this assignment and will also be available in soft format for your

convenience.

As an example, if the quarterly return of a fund is 10 %, it means that if you invested $100 at

the beginning of that quarter in the fund, your investment would, at the end of that quarter be

$100 + $ 2.50 = $ 102.50Your supervisor has given your team the following tasks:

Part A – Written Report – 3 x 10 Marks = 30 Marks

1. Organise the data into appropriate class intervals and present the following:

• A histogram of the frequency distribution
• An “Ogive” of the cumulative frequency distribution

2. Estimate the Mean, Median, Range, Standard Deviation and Coefficient of Variation

of the returns of each of the three funds.

3. Discuss your views on the risk and return characteristics of the three funds.

Part B – Presentation – 20 Marks

1. Present your views on the risk and return characteristics of the three funds in a clear and

concise manner describing how you estimated the statistical parameters above and

explaining the reasons for your recommendations.

Company Policies / Instructions:

• You are required to present as a team and you may use a power point document to

facilitate your presentation if required. The presentation must have no more than 4 slides.

• Each member of the group must contribute equally to the discussion.Data File:

Business Statistics Assignment Data File – Term 4 2014

Top 40 Next 40 Small Cap

(%) (%) (%)

1 Q1 5.26 8.43 0.05

2 Q2 8.47 3.06 11.24

3 Q3 11.38 7.38 7.08

4 Q4 1.80 4.07 15.87

5 Q1 6.10 7.27 6.12

6 Q2 8.17 2.91 3.51

7 Q3 5.04 10.43 5.71

8 Q4 4.88 15.69 1.38

9 Q1 3.83 5.71 15.89

10 Q2 13.28 3.81 20.98

11 Q3 6.63 2.95 4.45

12 Q4 4.55 6.13 3.24

13 Q1 3.79 9.59 6.83

14 Q2 3.87 2.29 23.83

15 Q3 1.99 5.14 4.73

16 Q4 5.47 6.25 5.03

17 Q1 5.57 3.12 6.19

18 Q2 7.03 6.73 5.19

19 Q3 4.11 4.69 17.86

20 Q4 2.55 9.80 4.25

21 Q1 3.20 4.99 3.88

22 Q2 7.10 13.22 21.80

23 Q3 7.60 3.85 6.74

24 Q4 8.21 4.78 41.20

25 Q1 1.39 11.95 7.04

26 Q2 7.49 6.69 6.35

27 Q3 3.63 4.84 9.27

28 Q4 0.41 3.85 15.70

29 Q1 2.10 7.33 2.12

30 Q2 3.38 1.30 16.85

31 Q3 8.26 8.96 6.25

32 Q4 9.73 12.44 3.12

33 Q1 6.38 9.56 2.07

34 Q2 1.73 1.85 3.06

35 Q3 0.33 5.14 0.95

36 Q4 2.74 10.35 2.69

37 Q1 5.13 5.59 2.17

38 Q2 3.16 3.93 11.79

39 Q3 2.55 8.02 6.49

40 Q4 12.40 9.09 3.98

ID Ref

7

8

9

10

Year QUARTER

1

2

3

4

5

6Assignment Marking Guide:

The following assignment criteria are designed to give students a guide as to what is expected

in the assignment:

PART A – Requirement 1 & 2

Evidence of understanding of

the use of statistical methods in

identifying, estimating,

presenting, organising data.

(8 – 10 Marks) – All data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(7 Marks) – All data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(6 Marks) – Most data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(5 Marks) – Most data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(4 Marks) – Few data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(3 Marks) – Few data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(2 Marks) – Very few data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(1 Mark) – Very few data are presented & estimated

successfully.

(0 Marks) – No attempt was made to present & estimate.

Part A – Requirement 3

Evidence of understanding and

interpreting statistical data

(8 – 10 Marks) – Shows a very high level of understanding

and interpretation

(7 Marks) – Shows a high level of understanding and

interpretation

(6 Marks) – Shows a good level of understanding and

interpretation

(5 Marks) – Shows a light level of understanding and

interpretation(4 Marks) – Shows a light level of understanding and

interpretation

(3 Marks) – Shows a very light level of understanding and

interpretation

(2 Marks) – Shows a very light level of understanding and

interpretation

(1 Mark) – Shows no understanding and interpretation

(0 Marks) – Unable to show any understanding &

interpretation of data

Part B – Presentation & Oral Exam (Individually Assessed)

Assessment Criteria:

1. Demonstrates understanding

of the presented material

2. Presents thoughts in a clear

and concise manner

3. Demonstrates ability to

interact in a group

environment

(8 – 10 Marks) – A very high level of achievement in all

three key assessment criteria

(7 Marks) – A high level of achievement in all three key

assessment criteria

(6 Marks) – A high (or better) level of achievement in two

criteria and a good level of achievement in the third

criteria

(5 Marks) – A good level of achievement in all three

criteria

(4 Marks) – A good level of achievement in two criteria

and a light level of achievement in the third criteria

(3 Marks) – A light level of achievement in all three

criteria

(2 Marks) – A light level of achievement in two criteria

and a very light level of achievement in the third criteria

(1 Mark) – A very light level of understanding in all three

criteria

(0 Mark) – Unable to demonstrate any level of

understanding in any of the three criteria.