1. Which of the following statements regarding Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Net Present Value (NPV) is/are most likely correct?

1: If the NPV and IRR methods give conflicting decisions for mutually exclusive projects, the IRR method should be used to select the project.
2: A project may have positive NPV even if its IRR is less than the cost of capital
3: IRR is the discount rate at which the NPV of the project is zero.
4: A project’s IRR can be positive even if the NPV is negative.

2. Meta Corp. sells 15,000 units of its product at a price of USD10 per unit. The company’s fixed costs are USD12,000 and interest expense is USD3,000. The variable cost per unit is USD7.

Meta Corp’s degrees of operating leverage and financial leverage are:

3. Henry Williamson, CFA, is also a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (SOA). Henry is required to abide by the SOA’s Code of Conduct as a fellow. Part of that Code of Conduct is as follows: PRECEPT 4. An Actuary who issues an Actuarial Communication shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the Actuarial Communication is clear and appropriate to the circumstances and its intended audience and satisfies applicable standards of practice.

If Henry issues actuarial communications that do not adhere to the actuarial standards of practice, what Standard would Henry most directly violate?

4. You are provided with the following information on a non-callable, non-convertible preferred stock:

Face value: USD50
Annual dividend: USD2.50
Maturity: Perpetual
Embedded options: None
Required rate of return: 6.25%

The intrinsic value of this stock is closest to:

5. Asmita Mack, CFA, lives in the country of Onionland. Each morning, Asmita crosses the border to the neighboring country of WDC where she manages client portfolios. This morning, a positive earnings report was announced for HawkBlack, Inc. (ticker KANE). Asmita would like to invest in the stock and believes it would benefit her clients as well. WDC has a law that restricts portfolio managers from investing in securities owned by their clients. Onionland has no such law.

To comply with the Standard, what is the minimum that Asmita must do?