Free Practice Questions for WGU Financial-Management Exam

The bid-ask spread is a fundamental concept in capital markets that reflects market liquidity and transaction costs. Thebid priceis the highest price a buyer (or market maker/specialist) is willing to pay for a security, while theask priceis the lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell. The difference between these two prices is the bid-ask spread. From a financial management perspective, the spread compensates market makers for providing liquidity, bearing inventory risk, and facilitating continuous trading. A narrow bid-ask spread generally indicates a highly liquid security with strong trading volume and low transaction costs, while a wide spread suggests lower liquidity, higher risk, or limited information availability. Investors effectively pay the spread when buying or selling securities, making it an implicit cost of trading. This concept is critical when evaluating market efficiency, trading strategies, and execution costs, especially for large institutional trades. Option D correctly defines the bid-ask spread as the difference between buying and selling prices quoted by specialists or dealers.

Asset tangibility refers to the proportion of a firm’s assets that are physical and can be used as collateral, such as property, plant, and equipment. Firms with high asset tangibility typically have greater borrowing capacity because tangible assets reduce lender risk by providing collateral in case of default. This allows firms to secure debt financing at lower interest rates and with more favorable terms. Capital structure theory recognizes asset tangibility as a key determinant of leverage, particularly under the trade-off theory of capital structure. Option A accurately reflects the standard financial management view.

The internal rate of return (IRR) represents the discount rate at which a project’s net present value (NPV) equals zero. Financial management theory states that a project should be accepted if its IRR exceeds the firm’s required rate of return (or hurdle rate), assuming conventional cash flows and no capital rationing.

In this scenario, the hospital has a minimum required return of 11% and sufficient capital to undertake all acceptable projects. Based on the provided IRR calculations, both Project A and Project B have IRRs exceeding 11%, making them financially acceptable under the IRR decision rule. Because there is no capital constraint and the investment horizon is sufficient, the hospital should accept both projects.

Financial management texts caution that IRR can sometimes produce misleading rankings when projects differ significantly in scale or timing. However, when evaluating independent projects with acceptable IRRs, the correct decision is to accept all projects that meet or exceed the required return. Option B correctly reflects this principle.

The initial investment for a capital project includes all costs required to acquire and prepare an asset for use. These costs typically include purchase price, delivery, installation, testing, and any necessary setup expenses. Financial management texts clearly distinguish these capitalized costs from expenses such as depreciation, which is an accounting allocation over time, and salvage value, which is considered at the end of a project’s life. Market research is usually treated as a separate operating or planning expense unless directly attributable to asset acquisition. Option B correctly identifies delivery and installation as part of the initial investment.

In a competitive bond sale, the issuer invites multiple underwriters (often investment banks) to bid on underwriting the bond issue. Each underwriting group proposes terms—commonly including the interest cost to the issuer (true interest cost or net interest cost), pricing, and underwriting spread. The issuer then selects the bid that provides the most favorable overall financing terms, typically the lowest borrowing cost for the desired structure and risk profile. This process is designed to create market competition among underwriters, which can reduce underwriting costs and improve pricing efficiency—especially when the issuer is well-known and the bond issue is relatively standard. This differs from a negotiated sale (option A), where the issuer works directly with a chosen underwriter to set terms through discussion rather than competitive bidding. Option C describes how an issuer might choose firms to participate, but it is not the defining mechanism of a competitive sale. Option D is incorrect because governments do not set fixed rates for corporate bond underwriting; pricing is determined by market conditions, issuer credit risk, investor demand, and the competitive bidding process itself.

The sustainable growth rate (SGR) represents the maximum rate at which a firm can grow its sales, assets, and earnings without raising new external equity. It is calculated as ROE × retention ratio, where the retention ratio equals one minus the dividend payout ratio. When a firm increases its dividend payout ratio, it retains less earnings for reinvestment, thereby reducing internally generated equity growth. Unless return on equity increases enough to offset this reduction—which is not assumed here—the sustainable growth rate will decline. Financial management theory emphasizes the trade-off between paying dividends and reinvesting earnings to support future growth. Option C correctly reflects this fundamental relationship between dividend policy and sustainable growth.

Within the CAPM framework, beta quantifies the degree of systematic risk relative to the market portfolio, which by definition has a beta of 1. A portfolio with a beta greater than 1 carries more systematic risk than the market, meaning its returns are expected to be more sensitive to market movements. This higher sensitivity increases both upside potential and downside exposure. According to CAPM, investors require a higher expected return for bearing this additional risk. Importantly, a higher beta does not guarantee superior performance; it simply reflects greater volatility relative to the market. Option B accurately captures this risk-based interpretation.