BEI Corp. is a company just entering the mature stage in its life cycle. Currently the company holds a large amount of cash and does not pay out to shareholders. The CFO and treasury team are considering whether the company should pay out and how.

Discuss how each of the following factors may impact its payout policy and which payout method(s) would be more appropriate.

(a) The company would like to have more pension fund investors in its shareholder base.

(b) Recently there are a few negative news about the company and the stock price has dropped significantly. However, the managers are confident about the companys future prospectus.