Investment Banking interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

100

Firms

46

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsTSTruist Securities10Rothschild & Co8Centerview Partners7CSCredit Suisse7HWHarris Williams6Houlihan Lokey6Lazard6Mizuho6Barclays5Citi5Deutsche Bank5Evercore5Moelis & Company5MSMorgan Stanley5Piper Sandler5RCRBC Capital Markets5Goldman Sachs4Nomura4TD Securities4Bank of America3GSGuggenheim Securities3J.P. Morgan3Jefferies3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3WPWarburg Pincus3WBWilliam Blair3HSBC2Lincoln International2Scotiabank2TPTPG2UBS2Wells Fargo Securities2Advent International1Apollo Global Management1Bain Capital1Balyasny Asset Management1BLBlackRock1BPBNP Paribas1General Atlantic1Invesco1Morningstar1PIMCO1STSociété Générale1SSState Street1WMWellington Management1

Topic

All topicsAccounting14Valuation21M&A10Markets and deals10Capital markets3LBO8Leveraged finance3Restructuring2Credit3Debt capital markets2Capital structure2Case and estimation11Brainteasers6Fit5

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserFitMarket view

1. 036Walk me through a merger model.M&AIntermediatetechnicalMSMorgan StanleyInvestment Banking · Hong Kong · 2025MSMorgan StanleyInvestment Banking · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Set the purchase price and the mix of cash, debt and stock. Combine the two income statements, layer in synergies and the financing effects, then compare the new pro forma EPS against what the acquirer would have earned alone.

   Then walk it

   1. Start with the offer price per share and the premium to the unaffected price. That gives you total consideration and the funding need.
   2. Choose the funding mix. Cash costs you forgone interest, new debt costs interest, new stock costs share count. Each has a different EPS effect.
   3. Add the two income statements together, then adjust: add synergies, subtract new interest expense, subtract forgone interest on cash used, and add incremental D&A from any asset write-up.
   4. Tax the adjustments at the marginal rate, then divide by the new share count including shares issued to the target.
   5. Compare pro forma EPS to standalone EPS. Higher is accretive, lower is dilutive. Then find the breakeven, usually the maximum price or the minimum synergies that keep it neutral.
   6. The output the client actually wants is the accretion-dilution sensitivity grid across price and synergy assumptions, plus the credit impact on pro forma leverage.

   Where candidates lose it

   Forgetting the forgone interest on cash. Cash is not free: using it costs you the interest you were earning. Candidates also skip the incremental D&A from purchase accounting, which quietly makes a deal look better than it is.

   Expect next

   • Is this deal accretive or dilutive, and by how much?
   • What is the rule of thumb for accretion using P/E?
   • How does an asset sale differ from a stock sale here?

   Reported by candidates at Morgan Stanley (Investment Banking, Hong Kong, 2025); Morgan Stanley (Investment Banking, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 038What is the difference between an asset sale and a stock sale?M&AIntermediatetechnicalMSMorgan StanleyInvestment Banking · Hong Kong · 2025

   Say this

   In an asset sale the buyer picks the assets and liabilities it wants and gets a stepped-up tax basis it can depreciate. In a stock sale the buyer takes the whole legal entity, warts and all, with the historical tax basis carried over.

   Then walk it

   1. Buyers prefer asset sales. You leave behind unwanted liabilities, including litigation and environmental exposure, and you get to write up the assets and depreciate them, which is a real cash tax benefit.
   2. Sellers prefer stock sales. One level of tax at capital gains rates, a clean exit, and no lingering obligations. In an asset sale a corporate seller can be taxed twice, at the entity and again on distribution.
   3. Asset sales are administratively painful. Every contract, licence and employee has to be assigned or novated, and some consents cannot be obtained.
   4. So price usually bridges the gap. A buyer will pay more for an asset deal because the tax step-up is worth something, and that premium is negotiated.
   5. The middle ground is a 338(h)(10) election in the US, where a stock sale is treated as an asset sale for tax purposes. That gets the buyer the step-up without unwinding every contract.

   Where candidates lose it

   Getting the preference backwards, or not knowing why the buyer cares. The step-up in basis is the whole economic point. If you cannot explain that the write-up creates future depreciation and therefore a cash tax shield, you have only memorised labels.

   Expect next

   • How do you quantify the value of the step-up?
   • What is a 338(h)(10) election?
   • How does purchase accounting change your merger model?

   Reported by candidates at Morgan Stanley (Investment Banking, Hong Kong, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 076Pitch me a stock to buy and one to sell.Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalBank of AmericaInvestment Banking · New York · 2023MSMorgan 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

   1. One sentence: 'I would buy X at its current level with a target of Y, about 30 percent upside over 12 months.'
   2. Then the business in two sentences, so the interviewer knows you understand what it actually sells.
   3. 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.
   4. Then the catalyst and the timeline. What event makes the market agree with you, and when.
   5. 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.
   6. 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.

4. 088Comparing two identical buildings, how would you value them differently?Case and estimationIntermediatetechnicalApollo Global ManagementReal Estate · Williamsport · 2022MSMorgan StanleyInvestment Banking · London · 2025

   Say this

   Identical bricks do not mean identical value. The difference is in the leases, the tenants and the debt. Value is net operating income divided by cap rate, and both terms can differ completely for the same building.

   Then walk it

   1. Net operating income first: what rent is actually contracted, at what escalations, with what vacancy and what recoveries of operating expenses. One building leased at above-market rent is worth more than its twin at below-market, today.
   2. Then lease duration and tenant credit. Ten years remaining to an investment grade tenant supports a much lower cap rate than two years remaining to a weak covenant. Duration and credit are the risk in real estate.
   3. Then the cap rate itself, which is where location micro-differences show up: the side of the street, the transport access, the parking, the floor plate efficiency.
   4. Then the debt in place. Assumable below-market fixed-rate debt is a real asset and can be worth several percent of the value. Expensive debt with prepayment penalties is a liability.
   5. Then everything outside the four walls: property tax assessment, ground lease versus freehold, capital expenditure deferred by one owner and not the other, and zoning or development rights above the building.
   6. So the short answer: I would value the cash flows and the risk of those cash flows, not the building. Two identical structures can easily differ 30 percent in value.

   Where candidates lose it

   Assuming the question is a trick with no answer, or listing only location. Leases and tenant credit are the substance. Naming assumable debt is the detail that marks out someone who has looked at real deals.

   Expect next

   • Walk me through getting to exit value from gross potential rent using a cap rate.
   • What is the cash-on-cash return at a given LTV and cap rate?
   • How does a cap rate relate to a multiple?

   Reported by candidates at Apollo Global Management (Real Estate, Williamsport, 2022); Morgan Stanley (Investment Banking, London, 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.