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
047How are current macroeconomic conditions affecting the M&A market?Deutsche 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
050What makes a good IPO environment?MizuhoGeneralist · New York · 2026
Say this
Low volatility, rising or stable indices, recent IPOs trading above issue price, and sector multiples that let the issuer accept the price. The single best indicator is how the last three deals in the sector are trading.
Then walk it
- Volatility is the gating factor. The VIX above roughly 25 effectively closes the window, because you cannot price a book when investors cannot price risk two weeks out.
- Aftermarket performance of recent deals matters more than the index level. If the last few IPOs broke issue, investors will not show up for the next one at any sensible price.
- Valuation levels have to be acceptable to the seller. A sponsor will not float an asset at a discount to its own carrying mark; it will wait or sell privately instead.
- You also need a receptive institutional bid with cash to deploy, and ideally a cornerstone or anchor investor willing to be named in the book.
- And a full pipeline is self-reinforcing. Windows tend to open and shut for everyone at once, which is why banks rush to price in the same three weeks.
Where candidates lose it
Listing 'good market conditions' without naming an observable. Volatility level and how the last three deals traded are the two things an ECM banker actually looks at. Name them specifically.
Expect next
- Why do IPOs get priced at a discount to fair value?
- What is a greenshoe and why does it exist?
- Would you advise a client to IPO or sell to a sponsor right now?
Reported by candidates at Mizuho (Generalist, New York, 2026). Source: Wall Street Oasis.
071What is happening in the US economy right now?J.P. MorganPrivate Banking · Charlotte · 2026Truist 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
- 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'.
- 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.
- Then the policy read: what the market is pricing for the next two or three meetings, and what would change it.
- 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.
- 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.
074What is the biggest challenge facing banks today?RBC 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Then technology and cost: legacy systems, payments competition from fintech, and now the cost of building AI infrastructure while the payoff is unproven.
- 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.
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.