Consider a mutual fund with $720 million in assets at the start of the year and with 10 million shares outstanding. The fund invests in a portfolio of stocks that provides dividend income at the end of the year of $3.5 million. The stocks included in the fund's portfolio increase in price by 6%, but no securities are sold, and there are no capital gains distributions. The fund charges 12b-1 fees of 1.00%, which are deducted from portfolio assets at year-end.
a. What is the net asset value at the start and end of the year? (Round your answers to 2 decimal places. Omit the "tiny_mce_markerquot; sign in your response.)
b. What is the rate of return for an investor in the fund? (Round your intermediate calculations to 3 decimal places and final answer to 2 decimal places. Omit the "%" sign in your response.)