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.

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Question bank

100 questions, mapped to the firms that asked them

Questions
100
Traced to a firm
100
Firms
46
Updated
September 2026
Asked at
All firmsTruist Securities10Rothschild & Co8Centerview Partners7Credit Suisse7Harris Williams6Houlihan Lokey6Lazard6Mizuho6Barclays5Citi5Deutsche Bank5Evercore5Moelis & Company5Morgan Stanley5Piper Sandler5RBC Capital Markets5Goldman Sachs4Nomura4TD Securities4Bank of America3Guggenheim Securities3J.P. Morgan3Jefferies3Moody's3Perella Weinberg Partners3Warburg Pincus3William Blair3HSBC2Lincoln International2Scotiabank2TPG2UBS2Wells Fargo Securities2Advent International1Apollo Global Management1Bain Capital1Balyasny Asset Management1BlackRock1BNP Paribas1General Atlantic1Invesco1Morningstar1PIMCO1Société Générale1State Street1Wellington Management1
Topic
All topicsAccounting14Valuation21M&A10Markets and deals10Capital markets3LBO8Leveraged finance3Restructuring2Credit3Debt capital markets2Capital structure2Case and estimation11Brainteasers6Fit5
Level
AnyCoreIntermediateHard
Type
AnyTechnicalCaseBrainteaserFitMarket view
Showing 1–2 of 2 · filtered from 100Clear filters
  1. 072Where did the S&P 500 close last night, and what is the 10-year trading at?Markets and dealsCorephone / HireVueMorgan StanleyWealth Management · Boca Raton · 2026RBC Capital MarketsSales and Trading · London · 2025

    Say this

    There is no clever answer to this one. You either know the levels or you do not, and not knowing them tells the interviewer you do not follow markets.

    Then walk it

    1. Know the index level and the direction of the last session. Approximate is fine; blank is not.
    2. Know the 10-year Treasury yield, the policy rate, oil, gold, and the dollar index. For an India-facing interview, add the Nifty, the 10-year G-sec and the rupee.
    3. Have one sentence on why the market moved. 'Equities were up on a softer inflation print and the 10-year fell about five basis points' is a complete answer.
    4. If you genuinely do not know, say so once, quickly, and give the level you last checked with the date. Do not guess a precise number.
    5. Build the habit rather than cramming: five minutes a morning on one market wrap for the two weeks before you interview is enough.

    Where candidates lose it

    Guessing a precise number and being wrong. That is worse than admitting you have not checked since yesterday. Interviewers on trading floors do this specifically as a preparation test, and they already know the answer.

    Expect next

    • Why did it move?
    • What is X commodity trading at?
    • What do you think the index closes at by year end?

    Reported by candidates at Morgan Stanley (Wealth Management, Boca Raton, 2026); RBC Capital Markets (Sales and Trading, London, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

  2. 076Pitch me a stock to buy and one to sell.Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalBank 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

    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.

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.