FINC 5001 – FOUNDATIONS IN FINANCE
GROUP MAJOR ASSIGNMENT SEMESTER ONE 2025
Due: 11:59pm 12 May 2025
Assessment Weighting: 40 Marks
Part A – Written Report (30 Marks)
Your team acts as investment analysts at an investment bank, conducting an AI-assisted financial analysis of a publicly listed company. The report should blend AI-generated insights with human evaluation and independent financial reasoning. The report should be written in the style of a professional business report.
Required:
Select a non-financial list company on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that has been listed on the exchange for at least 5 years (that is listed prior to March 2020). Using data for your selected company undertake the following analysis and prepare a written report presenting your analysis. You are encouraged to present the report partitioned in sections following the same format as given in the questions below.
1. AI Generated Investment Analysis (4 marks):
Your group is required to use a generative AI tool (or multiple generative AI tools) to undertake a company analysis of your chosen company (be careful to balance your AI report with the need to undertake independent analysis in the latter parts of the report when generated your AI prompt). Be sure to specify the need for an investment recommendation (buy/hold/sell). Cut and paste the AI response into your report in italics. It is expected that the AI prompts needed will be an iterative process. Specify which AI tool/s you have used and provide all the prompts that were specified to the AI tool during this iterative process.
2. Company Overview and Industry Analysis (3 marks):
In this section of the report your group will validate and critique the AI’s summary of the business model, market position, and competitive landscape using academic and market data. Evaluate the quality and thoroughness of the AI report using your own analysis.
3. Financial Performance and Risk Analysis (5 marks):
In this section of the report your group will validate and critique the AI-generated figures— such as returns, beta, and volatility—with independently sourced data. Your group should identify any errors, outdated assumptions, or misinterpretations.
4. Valuation (8 marks):
In this section of the report your group will independently recalculate key inputs such as growth rates, discount rates, and expected cash flows, and generate your own valuation and estimated share price (as at the time of writing the report). Provide your results and assumptions in the report in a clear and concise manner.
5. Investment Recommendation and AI reflection (10 marks):
In this section of the report your group will compare the AI's generated investment recommendation (buy/sell/hold) with your own calculations. Was the generative AI analysis reliable? What types of errors or oversimplifications did you identify in the AI report? Should AI-generated financial insights be disclosed in professional settings? What are the ethical risks of AI-generated investment advice? Discuss with reference to suitable academic literature.
Part B – Presentation (10 Marks)
The main deliverable ofthis part ofthe assignment is a pre-recorded video presentation in which all members of the group need to participate. The video will present the findings of your written report and will contain your group recommendation (buy/hold/sell). At least 50% of the presentation time mut be spent on critiquing the AI-generated content.
The presentation should last between 8-12 minutes and each group member needs to present for at least 2 minutes. A maximum of 7 slides should be included among which:
1. A slide with the names and SIDs ofthe group members (ensure that the order of the names aligns with the order of the presentation).
2. A list of references/sources used in the presentation.
Submission Requirements
The written report and video presentation (including the slides) should be submitted by 11:59pm (Sydney time) on Monday 12 May 2025.
Submission links will be provided on Canvas for your PDF document, video file and Powerpoint presentation slides (as a .pptx file). Only one member (the group leader) should submit the relevant files on behalf of the whole group. Consistent with Business School practice, a late submission penalty will be applied if your submission is not received by the announced due date/time.
Written Report Formatting and Presentation:
1. The number of pages allowed ranges from a minimum of 15 to a maximum of 20, with
1.5 line spacing and a font size of 12 Arial or Calibri. It should have normal-sized (2.54cm) margins on all sides. Please number the pages of your report. Marks will be reduced by 5 for each page you exceed the lower and the upper page limit. For example, your mark will be reduced by 10 if the report is of a length of 22 pages or 13 pages. You will be penalised for inappropriate formatting.
2. Text presented in tables and graphs do not need to follow this formatting
requirement. However, these will still need to be professionally presented in the report.
3. Ensure you use proper academic referencing in supporting the ideas and discussion within your report. All reports must include a list of references in academic form using the APA 7th method. Further information on the APA referencing style. can be found here:https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation/apa7. Failing to reference your sources may be subject to further actions according to the University of Sydney Code of Conduct and will be dealt with by the School.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/students/academic-dishonesty.html
4. Pay particular attention to presentation. A component of your mark will be based on presentation. Avoid overdoing formatting and ensure that the report is very clear, logical, and professional. Pay attention to grammar. Clear and logical presentation is a major challenge in report preparation.
5. Preparing a concise report poses a major challenge. Brevity and conciseness are key ingredients ofa highly successful report. Every part of the report should somehow add to the result; otherwise, it is superfluous and distracting.
6. Use headings in the report to separate key ideas. Using paragraphs will also assist with structuring ideas.
7. The report must be submitted as a PDF document. You must submit the report electronically via the Turnitin link on Canvas. Excel spreadsheets with all your calculations must be submitted as a .xlsx workbook. You must submit two files electronically via the link on Canvas.
What is included in the 15–20-page limit?
1. Report body
2. Tables
3. Diagrams
What is excluded from the 15–20-page limit?
1. Title page
2. Table of contents
3. Executive summary
4. Reference list
5. Appendices (For each set of data used in the report, present a screenshot of this data in the Appendix)
Marking Rubric
The marking rubric for the written report and the video presentation are available on canvas. Please pay careful attention to the marking rubric and ensure that you address all aspects in both your written report and your video presentation.