Equity Research interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

72

Firms

45

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsMorningstar12Man Group6Balyasny Asset Management5BLBlackRock5FTFranklin Templeton5MSCI5Jefferies4CSCredit Suisse3Fidelity Investments3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3Point723S&P Global3The Vanguard Group3WMWellington Management3Advent International2Apollo Global Management2Bank of America2Carlyle Group2DED.E. Shaw2Houlihan Lokey2HSBC2Piper Sandler2Sequoia Capital2SSState Street2Viking Global Investors2WBWilliam Blair2ACAQR Capital Management1BGBaupost Group1BMBNY Mellon1Centerview Partners1Coatue Management1Goldman Sachs1GSGuggenheim Securities1HWHarris Williams1Insight Partners1Invesco1Mizuho1Moelis & Company1MSMorgan Stanley1PIMCO1SCSchroders1Scotiabank1T. Rowe Price1TSTruist Securities1

Topic

All topicsResearch process9Stock pitch6Company analysis8Investment philosophy5Valuation14Modelling2Portfolio and risk8Macro8Sector knowledge2Accounting8Career and fit12Industry knowledge6Quantitative research1Sector: technology3Sector: consumer1Sector: healthcare1Sector: energy1Sector: financials2Sector: industrials1Case and estimation2

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseFitBrainteaserMarket view

1. 065How would you allocate a $100 million mandate across a portfolio of funds?Portfolio and riskHardsuperdayMSCIRisk Management · Remote · 2013The Vanguard GroupInvestment Research · Malvern · 2024

   Say this

   Start from the objective and the constraints, not from the funds. Required return, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, time horizon and any restrictions. Then build the strategic asset allocation, then select managers within it.

   Then walk it

   1. Establish the mandate first: what return is required, over what horizon, with what drawdown tolerance, what liquidity is needed and what restrictions apply. Everything follows from these.
   2. Set the strategic asset allocation across asset classes. That decision drives the large majority of the variance in outcomes; manager selection is second-order.
   3. Then decide active versus passive by asset class. Use passive where markets are efficient and active where dispersion is high and there is evidence of persistent skill.
   4. Then select managers on process rather than past returns. Understand the source of the edge, whether the team is stable, whether assets have grown beyond the capacity of the strategy, and what the fee structure does to net returns.
   5. Then look at the combination rather than each fund alone. Correlation between managers is what determines portfolio risk, and three managers running the same factor exposure is one position with three fee loads.
   6. Then build in the governance: rebalancing rules, review triggers, and a plan for what would cause redemption. Deciding the sell criteria in advance is what prevents performance-chasing.

   Where candidates lose it

   Jumping straight to picking funds. The correct structure is objectives, then asset allocation, then managers, then monitoring. Also, ignoring correlation between managers, which is the most common real-world error in multi-manager portfolios.

   Expect next

   • What risk-return targets would you set for an institutional investor?
   • How do you judge whether a manager has skill or luck?
   • How would you build a portfolio for different client needs?

   Reported by candidates at MSCI (Risk Management, Remote, 2013); The Vanguard Group (Investment Research, Malvern, 2024). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 069What is the difference between a mutual fund and an ETF?Industry knowledgeCoretechnicalPIMCOCompliance · Los Angeles · 2024The Vanguard GroupGeneralist · Malvern · 2026

   Say this

   Both are pooled vehicles. A mutual fund transacts once a day at NAV directly with the fund; an ETF trades on an exchange all day at a market price, with authorised participants creating and redeeming units in kind.

   Then walk it

   1. Trading: mutual fund orders all execute at the day's closing NAV. ETFs trade continuously, so you can buy intraday, use limit orders, and in some markets short them or trade options on them.
   2. The creation and redemption mechanism is the structural difference. Authorised participants exchange a basket of securities for ETF units, which keeps the market price close to NAV through arbitrage.
   3. Tax, in the US specifically: in-kind redemption lets an ETF hand out low-basis securities without realising gains, so ETFs generally distribute far fewer capital gains than mutual funds. This is a major driver of their growth.
   4. Costs: ETFs typically have lower expense ratios but you pay a bid-ask spread and possibly a brokerage commission, so for small regular investments a mutual fund can work out cheaper.
   5. Access and minimums: mutual funds often have minimum investments and support automatic contribution plans; ETFs need a brokerage account and trade in whole units unless fractional trading is offered.
   6. In India the same distinction holds, with the added practical point that ETF liquidity varies a lot outside the largest index products, so tracking difference and spreads matter more than the headline expense ratio.

   Where candidates lose it

   Saying only 'ETFs trade on an exchange'. The substantive differences are the creation-redemption mechanism and the tax consequence that follows from it. Both should be in the answer.

   Expect next

   • Why are ETFs more tax efficient?
   • When would you recommend a mutual fund instead?
   • What causes an ETF to trade away from NAV?

   Reported by candidates at PIMCO (Compliance, Los Angeles, 2024); The Vanguard Group (Generalist, Malvern, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 070How would you build a portfolio for clients with different needs and requirements?Portfolio and riskIntermediatetechnicalThe Vanguard GroupInvestment Research · Malvern · 2024ScotiabankSales and Trading · Toronto · 2025

   Say this

   Start from the liability, not the assets. What is the money for, when is it needed, and what loss can the client tolerate without abandoning the plan? Then build the allocation to match, and only then pick instruments.

   Then walk it

   1. Establish the objective and the horizon. A retirement pot 30 years out and a house deposit in two years require opposite portfolios regardless of the client's stated risk appetite.
   2. Separate risk capacity from risk tolerance. Capacity is what their circumstances can absorb; tolerance is what they can emotionally sustain. Build to the lower of the two, because a portfolio abandoned in a drawdown fails whatever its expected return.
   3. Set the strategic asset allocation across equities, fixed income, and any alternatives or real assets. This is the decision that matters most.
   4. Then the constraints: tax status and the right account wrappers, liquidity needs, existing concentrated positions, currency exposure, and any ethical restrictions.
   5. Then instrument selection, favouring low-cost broad exposure as the core, with active or satellite positions only where there is a reason to expect an edge.
   6. Then the governance: a rebalancing rule, a review schedule, and a written plan for what happens in a drawdown. Agreeing the behaviour in advance is the single highest-value thing an adviser does.

   Where candidates lose it

   Starting from products and risk questionnaires. The professional sequence is objective, then capacity and tolerance, then allocation, then instruments. Also failing to distinguish capacity from tolerance, which is the distinction that actually protects clients.

   Expect next

   • How would that differ for a 25-year-old and a 65-year-old?
   • How do you handle a client with a concentrated stock position?
   • What do you do when a client wants to sell in a crash?

   Reported by candidates at The Vanguard Group (Investment Research, Malvern, 2024); Scotiabank (Sales and Trading, Toronto, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

Firm tags come from public, anonymous candidate reports on Wall Street Oasis: strong signal, not sworn testimony. Firms are named as the places a question was reported, not as partners of Fin Maverick. Answers are written for this page to show how to think out loud; they are not scripts to recite.