Investment Banking interview preparation
Every question below is either traced to a named firm from a public candidate report, or tagged at desk level when we could not trace it. Answers are written the way you would actually say them out loud — answer first, then the mechanism, then the limitation.
100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them
- Questions
- 100
- Traced to a firm
- 100
- Firms
- 46
- Updated
- September 2026
037Is the deal accretive or dilutive to the acquirer's EPS, and by how much?MizuhoInvestment Banking · San Francisco · 2026Bank of AmericaConsumer and Retail · London · 2026
Say this
The quick test is to compare the cost of the funding with the yield you are buying. If the target's earnings yield, the inverse of its P/E, exceeds the after-tax cost of the capital you use, the deal is accretive.
Then walk it
- For an all-stock deal the rule is simple: if the acquirer's P/E is higher than the target's, it is accretive. You are issuing expensive paper to buy cheap earnings.
- For cash, compare the target's earnings yield to the after-tax interest forgone on the cash. Cash earning 3 percent pre-tax, so about 2.25 percent after tax, against a target at 20 times P/E which is a 5 percent yield, is accretive.
- For debt, compare the target's earnings yield to the after-tax cost of the new debt. Debt at 7 percent pre-tax is 5.25 percent after tax, so a 5 percent yield target would be slightly dilutive on that funding alone.
- To quantify it, build the pro forma: combined net income including synergies and financing costs, divided by the new share count, against standalone EPS.
- Then the point that matters: accretion is not the same as value creation. You can buy a low-multiple, declining business, show accretion, and destroy value. The real test is whether the price is below the intrinsic value plus achievable synergies.
Where candidates lose it
Treating accretion as proof the deal is good. It is an EPS arithmetic result, not a value judgement. Saying so unprompted is exactly what the Bank of America version of this question was reaching for.
Expect next
- What drives the result, and how would you assess whether the deal creates value?
- So can an accretive deal destroy value?
- Where would the breakeven price be?
Reported by candidates at Mizuho (Investment Banking, San Francisco, 2026); Bank of America (Consumer and Retail, London, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
076Pitch me a stock to buy and one to sell.Bank of AmericaInvestment Banking · New York · 2023Morgan StanleySales and Trading · Tokyo · 2025Balyasny Asset ManagementEquity Hedge · New York · 2020
Say this
Lead with the recommendation and the target, then give the variant view, then the catalyst, then the risk. Ninety seconds. The variant view is the whole pitch: what do you believe that the market does not?
Then walk it
- One sentence: 'I would buy X at its current level with a target of Y, about 30 percent upside over 12 months.'
- Then the business in two sentences, so the interviewer knows you understand what it actually sells.
- Then the variant view, which is the only part that matters. 'Consensus models margin flat; I think it expands 200 basis points because the pricing taken last year has not annualised yet.' No variant view means no pitch.
- Then the catalyst and the timeline. What event makes the market agree with you, and when.
- Then the two biggest risks and what would make you exit. And on the short side, be rigorous: a short thesis needs a catalyst and a borrow cost, because 'it is expensive' is not a thesis.
- Know the numbers behind it: revenue growth, margin, multiple, and roughly what the market values it at.
Where candidates lose it
Pitching a mega-cap that everyone covers, with a thesis that is just the consensus narrative. If your reason is the reason in the newspaper, there is no edge. And never pitch something you cannot defend on valuation.
Expect next
- What would make you change your mind?
- Are you sure your thesis can be backed up? What if their costs do not fall?
- How would you hedge this name?
Reported by candidates at Bank of America (Investment Banking, New York, 2023); Morgan Stanley (Sales and Trading, Tokyo, 2025); Balyasny Asset Management (Equity Hedge, New York, 2020). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
099Tell me about a time you faced an ethical dilemma, or saw someone do something you thought was wrong.Bank of AmericaInvestment Banking · New York · 2025J.P. MorganAsset Management · New York · 2026State StreetGlobal Data · Boston · 2024
Say this
Use a real, small, resolved example. Something where you noticed a problem, raised it through the right channel, and it was fixed. Scale does not matter; the pattern does.
Then walk it
- Pick something genuinely ambiguous but low-stakes: a teammate misrepresenting data in a group project, an internship colleague using an outdated figure in a client-facing document, an expenses issue on a society committee.
- Structure it as situation, what made it a dilemma, what you actually did, and the outcome. Fifteen seconds on the setup, most of the time on the action.
- Show that you went to the person first before escalating. Interviewers in regulated firms want to see proportionality, not someone who immediately reports a colleague.
- Be specific about the discomfort. 'I did not want to accuse him, so I asked him where the number came from' is credible. Certainty is not.
- Avoid two failure modes: a story where you did nothing, and a story so grave that it raises questions about the environments you have been in. And never name a real employer's confidential matter, because how you handle that in the interview is itself the test.
Where candidates lose it
Claiming you have never faced one. That reads as either no self-awareness or no willingness to engage. Equally bad is a story where you stayed silent and rationalised it. Have one prepared, rehearsed, and resolved.
Expect next
- What would you have done if raising it had cost you the grade or the offer?
- Tell me about a time you made a difficult decision.
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager.
Reported by candidates at Bank of America (Investment Banking, New York, 2025); J.P. Morgan (Asset Management, New York, 2026); State Street (Global Data, Boston, 2024). 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.