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. 025How large is the hedge fund industry?Industry knowledgeIntermediatetechnicalMan GroupEquity Hedge · London · 2016

   Say this

   Roughly $4 to $5 trillion in assets under management globally, across something like 10,000 funds. If you do not know the figure, build it: the largest firms run $50 to $100 billion each, and the top twenty or so account for a large share of the total.

   Then walk it

   1. The headline number is around $4 to $5 trillion, which is worth knowing if you are interviewing at a hedge fund.
   2. If you are unsure, derive it. The biggest multi-managers run on the order of $60 to $100 billion. Twenty firms at an average of $50 billion is a trillion, and the long tail of thousands of smaller funds adds several more.
   3. For context, that is small relative to global equity market capitalisation of well over $100 trillion, and small relative to the roughly $12 trillion BlackRock alone manages. Hedge funds punch above their weight because of leverage and turnover, not size.
   4. The structural point worth adding: assets have concentrated heavily into a handful of large multi-manager platforms over the past decade, while the number of small funds has fallen. That concentration is the defining industry trend.
   5. And the fee model has moved with it: pass-through expenses at the big platforms rather than the traditional two and twenty.

   Where candidates lose it

   Guessing wildly with no derivation, or quoting a number you cannot contextualise. Being asked this at a hedge fund is a test of whether you know the industry you are applying to. Know the figure and one structural trend.

   Expect next

   • How has that changed in the last decade?
   • What is a multi-manager platform?
   • Why do you want to work at a hedge fund rather than long only?

   Reported by candidates at Man Group (Equity Hedge, London, 2016). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 095How many books were sold in the US last year?Case and estimationIntermediatetechnicalAdvent InternationalPrivate Equity · Boston · 2022

   Say this

   Around 700 million to 1 billion. Take 330 million people, assume roughly half buy any books at all, and an average of four to six books a year among buyers, which gives 650 million to 1 billion.

   Then walk it

   1. Population: 330 million. Strip out young children, so call it 280 million potential buyers.
   2. Participation: perhaps half buy at least one book in a year. That is 140 million buyers, and I would flag that this is my least certain assumption.
   3. Intensity: the distribution is skewed. Most buyers purchase two or three, a small group of heavy readers buys twenty or more. An average of five across buyers is reasonable.
   4. 140 million times 5 gives 700 million units.
   5. Then adjust for segments I have not counted: educational and textbook purchases driven by institutions rather than individuals, and gift buying which is already inside the per-person figure. Textbooks might add 50 to 100 million.
   6. So call it 750 million to 1 billion units, and note that published industry figures for US print unit sales sit around 750 million, so the estimate holds. I would state the two assumptions the answer is most sensitive to: participation rate and books per reader.

   Where candidates lose it

   Not flagging the skewed distribution. Using a simple population-wide average ignores that book buying is concentrated in heavy readers, and noticing that is the analytical content. Also, always name which assumption drives the answer.

   Expect next

   • Which assumption is your answer most sensitive to?
   • How would you check it?
   • Now size the market in dollars.

   Reported by candidates at Advent International (Private Equity, Boston, 2022). 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.