Why Government Should Not Invest Public Money in Sports Stadiums Used by Professional Franchises
In the previous article, we have already come across some of the reasons why the government should not encourage funding of stadiums that are to be used by private franchises. We have already seen that the entire mechanism of government funding ends up being a regressive tax on the citizens of a particular city who […]
Documents Required for Startup Financing
Setting up a startup company can require a lot of paperwork. It is common for startup founders to spend a lot of their time and effort putting these papers in order. It may seem like a mundane chore and even counterproductive. However, the reality is that the company needs to have all its legal documents […]
Rigging the LIBOR
The British banking regulator FSA has prosecuted Barclays for rigging the interest rates in the market. The regulator termed it as being equivalent to stealing money from people who invest in derivatives and other stock market instruments that are sensitive to LIBOR. Barclays, one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom had to pay […]
Why Hedge Funds Fail ?
Hedge funds are considered to be the riskiest of all asset classes. Almost everybody considers hedge funds to be completely speculative in nature. Add to this the fact that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows only accredited high net worth individuals to invest in such funds and they start to look all the more suspicious. […]
Tax Co-operation: A Primer
The modern world is globalized. This means that free movement of goods, services, people as well as capital is allowed across the globe. This has important implications for governments. A globalized system means that tax systems can no longer work in a vacuum. The tax systems are continuously interacting with other tax systems, whether the […]
The following explanation will help in understanding each finance function in detail
One of the most important finance functions is to intelligently allocate capital to long term assets. This activity is also known as capital budgeting.
It is important to allocate capital in those long term assets so as to get maximum yield in future. Following are the two aspects of investment decision
Since the future is uncertain therefore there are difficulties in calculation of expected return.
Along with uncertainty comes the risk factor which has to be taken into consideration. This risk factor plays a very significant role in calculating the expected return of the prospective investment.
Therefore while considering investment proposal it is important to take into consideration both expected return and the risk involved.
Investment decision not only involves allocating capital to long term assets but also involves decisions of using funds which are obtained by selling those assets which become less profitable and less productive.
It is a wise decision to decompose depreciated assets which are not adding value and utilize those funds in securing other beneficial assets.
An opportunity cost of capital needs to be calculating while dissolving such assets. The correct cut off rate is calculated by using this opportunity cost of the required rate of return (RRR)
Financial decision is yet another important function which a financial manger must perform. It is important to make wise decisions about when, where and how should a business acquire funds.
Funds can be acquired through many ways and channels. Broadly speaking a correct ratio of an equity and debt has to be maintained. This mix of equity capital and debt is known as a firm’s capital structure.
A firm tends to benefit most when the market value of a company’s share maximizes this not only is a sign of growth for the firm but also maximizes shareholders wealth. On the other hand the use of debt affects the risk and return of a shareholder. It is more risky though it may increase the return on equity funds.
A sound financial structure is said to be one which aims at maximizing shareholders return with minimum risk. In such a scenario the market value of the firm will maximize and hence an optimum capital structure would be achieved.
Other than equity and debt there are several other tools which are used in deciding a firm capital structure.
Earning profit or a positive return is a common aim of all the businesses. But the key function a financial manger performs in case of profitability is to decide whether to distribute all the profits to the shareholder or retain all the profits or distribute part of the profits to the shareholder and retain the other half in the business.
It’s the financial manager’s responsibility to decide a optimum dividend policy which maximizes the market value of the firm. Hence an optimum dividend payout ratio is calculated.
It is a common practice to pay regular dividends in case of profitability. Another way is to issue bonus shares to existing shareholders.
It is very important to maintain a liquidity position of a firm to avoid insolvency. Firm’s profitability, liquidity and risk all are associated with the investment in current assets.
In order to maintain a tradeoff between profitability and liquidity it is important to invest sufficient funds in current assets. But since current assets do not earn anything for business therefore a proper calculation must be done before investing in current assets.
Current assets should properly be valued and disposed of from time to time once they become non profitable. Currents assets must be used in times of liquidity problems and times of insolvency.
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