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. 043Walk me through a deal you have been following, and tell me how it changed the industry.Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalBarclaysInvestment Banking · New York · 2023EvercoreInvestment Banking · Menlo Park · 2025Moelis & CompanyInvestment Banking · London · 2026WBWilliam BlairInvestment Banking · Atlanta · 2026

   Say this

   Pick one deal, know it cold, and tell it as a story with a number in every sentence: who bought whom, for how much, at what multiple, funded how, and why it made strategic sense.

   Then walk it

   1. Open with the facts in one breath: acquirer, target, enterprise value, the multiple paid, the premium to the undisturbed price, and the funding mix.
   2. Then the strategic rationale in one sentence. What did the buyer get that it could not build, and what synergies did it guide to?
   3. Then your own view, which is the part that matters. Was the price defensible? I would say something like: at fourteen times EBITDA against a peer set at eleven, the buyer needed the full guided synergies to justify it, so the deal is really a bet on integration.
   4. Then the industry effect: did it trigger consolidation, did it force a competitor response, did it change how the sector is valued?
   5. Pick a deal in the group you are interviewing with, and pick one where you have an actual opinion. A deal you can only describe is worse than a smaller deal you can argue about.

   Where candidates lose it

   Choosing the biggest headline deal and only reciting what the press release said. If you cannot say what multiple was paid and whether you think it was too much, you have not followed the deal, you have read about it.

   Expect next

   • Was the price too high?
   • If you were the buyer, what would you have worried about in diligence?
   • Who else could have bought it?

   Reported by candidates at Barclays (Investment Banking, New York, 2023); Evercore (Investment Banking, Menlo Park, 2025); Moelis & Company (Investment Banking, London, 2026); William Blair (Investment Banking, Atlanta, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

2. 047How are current macroeconomic conditions affecting the M&A market?Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalDeutsche BankInvestment Banking · Boston · 2025Perella Weinberg PartnersInvestment Banking · Houston · 2025

   Say this

   Work the chain from rates to deal volume: the cost and availability of debt sets what sponsors can pay, valuation gaps between buyers and sellers set whether processes clear, and confidence in forecasts sets whether boards will commit at all.

   Then walk it

   1. Rates first. Financing cost sets the sponsor's maximum entry multiple directly, because the deal has to service the debt. Higher rates compress what leverage can support.
   2. Then the bid-ask spread. Sellers anchor on the multiple they could have got two years ago, buyers price off today's cost of capital. When that gap is wide, processes get pulled and volume falls.
   3. Then financing availability, which is separate from price. Private credit has taken a large share of leveraged lending from the banks, so deals can now get done even when the syndicated market is shut.
   4. Then confidence. Boards do not approve transformational deals when they cannot forecast next year. That is why uncertainty hurts volume more than the level of rates does.
   5. And the composition effect worth naming: in tougher markets you see more all-stock mergers, more minority and structured deals, more corporate carve-outs as companies raise cash, and more take-privates when public multiples fall below private marks.

   Where candidates lose it

   Answering with stale numbers or none at all. You do not need to be right about the exact policy rate, but you must know roughly where rates sit and one live example of a deal or a sector that reflects it. Update this the week of your interview.

   Expect next

   • What makes a good IPO environment?
   • What would you expect to happen to deal volume next year?
   • How has private credit changed leveraged finance?

   Reported by candidates at Deutsche Bank (Investment Banking, Boston, 2025); Perella Weinberg Partners (Investment Banking, Houston, 2025). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

3. 071What is happening in the US economy right now?Markets and dealsIntermediatephone / HireVueJ.P. MorganPrivate Banking · Charlotte · 2026TSTruist SecuritiesRisk Management · Charlotte · 2026CitiGeneralist · London · 2026

   Say this

   Answer with a structure rather than a list of headlines: growth, inflation, the labour market, then what the central bank is doing about it, then what that means for your desk. Four numbers and one implication.

   Then walk it

   1. Know four figures cold on the morning of your interview: GDP growth, headline and core inflation, the unemployment rate, and the policy rate. Say them with the vintage, as in 'core PCE ran at X in the latest print'.
   2. Then the tension. There is almost always one: inflation sticky while the labour market softens, or growth resilient while rates stay restrictive. Naming the tension is what makes it analysis instead of recitation.
   3. Then the policy read: what the market is pricing for the next two or three meetings, and what would change it.
   4. Then bring it back to the seat. Something like: for M&A, a lower path for rates lowers the sponsor's cost of debt, which supports higher entry multiples and should reopen the large-cap LBO pipeline.
   5. Keep it to ninety seconds. This question tests preparation and judgement about relevance, not breadth.

   Where candidates lose it

   Reciting headlines with no numbers, or numbers with no implication for banking. Also, opinions about politics. Stay on the transmission mechanism from macro to your desk, and check your figures the morning of the interview because a stale print is worse than none.

   Expect next

   • How is that affecting the M&A market?
   • Describe Jerome Powell's tenure.
   • Where did the S&P 500 close last night?

   Reported by candidates at J.P. Morgan (Private Banking, Charlotte, 2026); Truist Securities (Risk Management, Charlotte, 2026); Citi (Generalist, London, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

4. 074What is the biggest challenge facing banks today?Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalRCRBC Capital MarketsInvestment Banking · London · 2025UBSPrivate Wealth Management · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Pick one and defend it rather than listing five. I would argue disintermediation: private credit has taken a large share of leveraged lending, and the balance sheet advantage banks used to have is worth less than it was.

   Then walk it

   1. The structural version: private credit funds now hold loans banks used to underwrite and syndicate. That removes fee income and weakens the cross-sell that won advisory mandates.
   2. Regulation compounds it. Capital rules make balance-sheet lending expensive for banks and do not apply to the funds competing with them, so the business migrates to where the capital is cheapest.
   3. Then the cyclical layer: deposit costs and the funding mix. The 2023 regional bank failures showed how quickly deposits move when rates rise and how unhedged duration in the securities book can be fatal.
   4. Then technology and cost: legacy systems, payments competition from fintech, and now the cost of building AI infrastructure while the payoff is unproven.
   5. But I would come back to the one point: banks are being squeezed out of the middle. The answer they want is a view, held with a reason, not a survey.

   Where candidates lose it

   Listing regulation, technology, competition and cyber in one breath with no argument. The question is an invitation to have an opinion. Pick the one you can defend, make the case in three sentences, then acknowledge the strongest counterargument.

   Expect next

   • Why has private credit taken share?
   • What should banks do about it?
   • How does that affect the division you are applying to?

   Reported by candidates at RBC Capital Markets (Investment Banking, London, 2025); UBS (Private Wealth Management, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.

5. 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.

6. 078Tell me a piece of recent news and how it affects this bank.Markets and dealsIntermediatetechnicalRCRBC Capital MarketsInvestment Banking · London · 2026BLBlackRockAsset Management · Tokyo · 2026Deutsche BankGeneralist · New York · 2026

   Say this

   Pick something with a direct line to their revenue, not a general headline. Then trace the chain: event, effect on a market they operate in, effect on a specific business line of theirs.

   Then walk it

   1. Choose deliberately. A deal in their strongest sector, a regulatory change in their home market, or a competitor's result that reveals something about their position.
   2. State the fact precisely, with the number. Vagueness here is fatal because it suggests you skimmed a headline.
   3. Then the chain. For example: a large take-private in their coverage sector signals that sponsors are back in large-cap deals, which flows to their leveraged finance and sponsor coverage revenue, and they have a strong franchise there.
   4. Then say something specific about the firm that proves you researched it: a mandate they ran, a league table position, a business they recently built or exited.
   5. Close with why it matters to you: the growth area you want to work in. That converts a market question into a 'why this firm' answer, which is what it really is.

   Where candidates lose it

   Bringing a headline with no connection to their business, or one they will know better than you and can immediately correct. Pick something in their sector, know the number, and rehearse the three-step chain.

   Expect next

   • Why does that matter for the division you applied to?
   • Which of our competitors benefits more?
   • What else have you been reading?

   Reported by candidates at RBC Capital Markets (Investment Banking, London, 2026); BlackRock (Asset Management, Tokyo, 2026); Deutsche Bank (Generalist, New York, 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.