Camelback Investment Company (CIC) is a private company that invests in various financial and non-financial assets for its shareholders. Assets are measured at fair value at each reporting date so that the shareholders will know what their underlying shares are worth, which facilitates sales of the limited number of shares.

You are the new staff accountant at CIC and you are assisting on closing the March 31, 2021 financial records. You have been asked by the chief financial officer (CFO) to work with the chief investment officer (CIO) to evaluate and determine the propriety of fair values that the CIO is proposing for a number of investments as of March 31, 2021. These valuations will be included in the March 31, 2021 financial statements. The investments are as follows:

Investment in Smith Corporation

CIC has an investment in 100,000 shares of common stock Smith Corporation. Smith Corporation is a public company whose stock is traded on the NYSE. The stock is currently valued in the accounting records at $20.00 per share ($2.0 million), which was the value at the last measurement date of December 31, 2020. The CIO is proposing to measure the fair value of the common stock at the bid price for the stock at the close of business on the measurement date of March 31, 2021, which is $25.00 per share. This valuation approach is consistent with what has been used in the past three years by management. Thus, the fair value is $2.5 million at year-end.

Investment in Chicago Corporation

CIC has an investment in 100,000 shares of Chicago Corporation which is a private company. The stock is currently valued in the accounting records at $15 per share (total value of $1,500,000) which was the value as of the last measurement date of December 31, 2020. There are no market quotes with respect to the fair value of the common stock; however, the private company’s operations, size and performance are similar to a company whose stock is traded on the NASDAQ. These similar companies are valued at $17 per share as of March 31, 2021.

Land

CIC has an investment in a 10-acre parcel of land that is located near Los Angeles. The carrying value of the land as of March 31, 2021 was $1 million per acre, or $10 million, and is the equivalent of the cost of the land. The land is currently zoned so that it may be developed for commercial warehouses or industrial manufacturing facilities. Recent similar sales of land within the area to be developed as commercial warehouses have been approximately $900,000 per acre while recent sales of land to be developed as manufacturing are $800,000 per acre.

Automobiles

CIC owns a group of 10 automobiles, previously used by the senior executives of CIC that are currently for sale. Since they are not in use but held for sale, GAAP permits these automobiles to be recorded at fair value on the balance sheet. The automobiles currently have a carrying value of $35,000 per auto for a total of $350,000. They have low mileage and could be sold in either the retail market or the dealer market. The dealer market is an active market and management could access that market immediately. Management has been told by a reputable dealer that similar autos could be sold for approximately $30,000 per auto for a total of $300,000. The retail market is harder to access due to legal restrictions and would take 6 months to access this market. Pricing guides for the retail market lists the sales prices of similar autos at approximately $34,500 per automobile for a total of $345,000.

Real estate

CIC has an investment in a condominium project that was completed on January 31, 2021. The carrying amount of the condominium at that date was $25 million and reflected the cumulative investments that CIC made to the developer. Through March 31, 2021 there have not been any sales of any of the condominium units and the developer has just declared bankruptcy.

CIC has taken over the project, hired a management company to oversee the building and a marketing/sales company to sell the individual units. The CIO hired Ace Number One (Ace) real estate valuation and appraisal experts to measure the fair value of the project as of March 31, 2021. Ace ended up valuing the condominium project at $22 million and their report considered a combined approach of comparable sales figures for comparable condominium units (an acceptable GAAP method for valuation). However, the Chief Investment Officer believes that this amount is too low and the correct valuation should be $28 million because the economic outlook is favorable.

Financial Statement Item to Be Valued At Fair Value	Identify as a Financial or Non Financial Asset	Determine the Fair Value as of March 31, 2021	Level in Fair Value Hierarchy
Investment in Smith Corporation
Investment in Chicago Corporation
Land
Automobiles
Real Estate

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Answer For each of the above investments determine if you agree or disagree with the CIOs valuation ... View the full answer