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. 072Where did the S&P 500 close last night, and what is the 10-year trading at?Markets and dealsCorephone / HireVueMSMorgan StanleyWealth Management · Boca Raton · 2026RCRBC 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. 073How does a bank make money?Markets and dealsCorephone / HireVueJ.P. MorganPrivate Banking · Charlotte · 2026

   Say this

   Two engines: net interest income, which is the spread between what it pays depositors and earns on loans and securities, and fee income from advisory, underwriting, trading, asset management and payments.

   Then walk it

   1. Net interest income is the classic bank business. Borrow short and cheap from depositors, lend long and dearer. The spread times the balance sheet is the revenue, and it is levered, which is why capital rules exist.
   2. Fee income is everything that does not consume much balance sheet: M&A advisory, ECM and DCM underwriting, trading commissions and spread capture, asset and wealth management fees, and transaction banking.
   3. The costs are compensation, which dominates, technology, regulatory and compliance, and credit losses through the provision line.
   4. The distinction that matters for an investment bank specifically: advisory revenue is capital-light and cyclical, while lending revenue is capital-heavy and steadier. That is why banks cross-sell, using the balance sheet to win the advisory mandate.
   5. So for a universal bank the shape is: net interest income for stability, fees for the upside, and the credit cycle as the thing that occasionally takes it all back.

   Where candidates lose it

   Answering only 'they lend money at a higher rate than they borrow'. For an investment banking interview you must name fee income and, ideally, the cross-sell point about using lending to win advisory work. That is the actual business model you are joining.

   Expect next

   • What are the biggest challenges banks face today?
   • How would that change in a falling rate environment?
   • Which revenue line would you want to be in and why?

   Reported by candidates at J.P. Morgan (Private Banking, Charlotte, 2026). 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.