Group #/Name_______________

Exam 3 – Group Component

Requirement 1

Using your knowledge about the pension and equity topics, you are to create a case that includes
two (fictitious) investment potentials. These investments must, on the surface (i.e. from a naïve
investor’s perspective), look identical. But, when utilizing the knowledge and skills you’ve
developed in this course, be shown to be decidedly unequal.

Your investment options should include summary financial info, accompanied by any additional
information or footnotes that would lead the “informed/knowledgeable” reader to be able to
identify underlying differences in the investment potential. (For example, you might include
information about preferences of one share class that could detrimentally impact the residual
dividend distributions to common shareholders. Or, you might include information that could
affect the proportional wealth impact to the common shareholder due to unrecorded liabilities or
other potentially dilutive effects.) Put simply, you are to come up with two examples that utilize
the topics from the Pension and Equity materials – with the special requirement that they be
deceptively identical to the naïve investor, and decidedly different upon inspection by an
informed/knowledgeable investor. To simplify your process, you may use the individual exam
problem on Equity (or specific excerpts from the problem) as one of your investments if you
choose.

(For additional guidance on expectations, please see the included grading rubric.)

Requirement 2

For this final deliverable, I require you to provide a voyeuristic opportunity into the process of
your group work. Specifically, I require that you record (cameras on) your group meeting in one
of the following ways.
i. Record (through Zoom/other medium) the first 20 minutes of meeting, the last 20
minutes of meeting, and a random 20 minute segment somewhere in the middle of
your discussions (perhaps where you believe the group is engaged in a particularly
meaningful discussion, or where your group was discussing a disagreement about the
case).
ii. Record the entire process via Zoom/other.
iii. Record 30 minutes of your group’s activities (at any point in the process) and include
supplementary email/chat/discussion streams documenting the group’s engagement.

Note: This does not mean that you must “present” your cases. Rather, my goal is to get a sense
of how engaged the group was with the task, how challenging the case was to complete, and
whether the group discussions advanced or cemented your understanding of the accounting
concepts. I encourage you to simply set the meeting to record and proceed as usual.
Requirement 3 (optional bonus opportunity):

Discuss how you have benefited from taking this course and/or any advice you might offer
another student about the course (i.e. navigating the challenges, how to succeed, online vs.
classroom experience, etc.). This deliverable may be either written, or recorded.

I recognize that this may be different for everyone. Therefore, if you would prefer, you can
submit this to me individually by email or a shared/linked file. If you choose to complete this
activity as a group, a great way to share your thoughts is to simply add this to your recording
from Requirement 2. If you take this approach, simply let me know the time/minute of the
discussion within the recording to ensure that you receive credit for this opportunity.

The rubric by which you will be assessed is as follows.

Evaluation Criteria: My Scored

Comments (1-10)
Would a naïve comparison of the financial data for the two
companies have resulted in the conclusion that they were of equal
investment potential? And, was this clearly
demonstrated/discussed in the deliverable?
Would a naïve comparison of the financial data for the two
companies have resulted in the conclusion that they were of equal
investment potential? And, was this clearly
demonstrated/discussed in the deliverable?
Did both examples utilize a combination of at least 3 factors from
the following categories?
• potentially dilutive securities
• dividend distribution differences
pension-related impacts
(Specific characteristics for each company must be clearly
described and presented with maximum clarity – for example, a
side by side comparison of features.)
Does a final “informed” comparison of the two companies lead to a
clear conclusion that one investment is better than the other (all
else equal)?
Was the group discussion of this inequality clearly presented?
I suggest a clearly labeled Excel document to set up the initial
financial data and work through the calculations, paired with a
word document discussing:
• the specific differences between companies,
• why the group concluded that they would initially appear
equal, and
• how incorporating the additional information/analyses
would lead to a different conclusion.
Did the group engage in meaningful discussion about the project?
(Did the conversation demonstrate topical understanding?)