Mutual Fund Mastery interview preparation

Questions

100

Traced to a firm

32

Firms

19

Updated

September 2026

Asked at

All firmsVanguard5BLBlackRock3FTFranklin Templeton3Invesco3PIMCO3Fidelity Investments2J.P. Morgan2Morningstar2Neuberger Berman2SCSchroders2T. Rowe Price2Amundi1BMBNY Mellon1Goldman Sachs1Man Group1Northern Trust1SSState Street1Sycamore Partners1WMWellington Management1

Topic

All topicsFund structure and regulation7NAV and operations6Scheme categorisation4Equity schemes5Debt schemes7Risk, liquidity and disclosure7Index funds and ETFs6Hybrid and solution schemes3Costs, plans and commissions6SIP and investor mechanics5Performance measurement6Taxation5Distribution, compliance and NISM5Portfolio construction and advice5Estimation and numeracy5Markets and industry6Career and fit12

Level

AnyCoreIntermediateHard

Type

AnyTechnicalCaseFitBrainteaserMarket view

1. 011An investor submits a 5 lakh purchase into a liquid fund at 1:20 pm and the money is credited to the scheme account at 3:10 pm the same day. Which NAV does he get, and what has he lost?NAV and operationsHardtechnicalFund operationsCorporate treasury desks

   Say this

   He gets that same day's closing NAV, not the previous day's, because the funds were not available for utilisation before the 1:30 pm cut-off. He has lost one day of accrual — on 5 lakh in a liquid fund at around 6 percent, that is roughly 80 rupees.

   Then walk it

   1. The two tests are independent: application time-stamped before 1:30, and funds available for utilisation before 1:30. He passes the first and fails the second.
   2. Because the money became available after 1:30 but still on the same day, the allotment is made at the closing NAV of the day immediately preceding the next business day — which is today's closing NAV.
   3. Had the credit landed at 4 pm and only been available the next morning, he would instead get the NAV of the day preceding that availability, so the arithmetic changes again. The rule always keys off the day the money is usable by the scheme.
   4. The reason liquid funds are structured this way is that units allotted at the previous day's NAV start earning from today. If you got yesterday's NAV without yesterday's money in the scheme, existing unitholders would be funding your return.
   5. Scale it up before you close. On a 50 crore corporate treasury ticket, one day at 6 percent is about 8 lakh rupees. This is why treasuries fund by RTGS in the morning, not by cheque at lunchtime.
   6. And the operational point: the AMC cannot make an exception. The RTA applies it mechanically off the bank credit time, and any override is an audit finding.

   Where candidates lose it

   Answering from the time stamp alone and giving him the previous day's NAV. The time stamp only makes the application valid; realisation of funds decides the NAV. Also, do not quote a rule you cannot apply — the interviewer will change the credit time to 4 pm and see if your logic survives.

   Expect next

   • Now the money is credited at 4 pm. What changes?
   • What if it were an equity fund instead?
   • How would you advise a treasury client to avoid this entirely?
2. 012How do you value a corporate bond in a scheme portfolio that has not traded for three weeks?NAV and operationsHardsuperdayFund operationsFixed income desks

   Say this

   You do not use your own judgement. SEBI requires every AMC to value debt at the security-level prices supplied by the two mandated valuation agencies, CRISIL and ICRA, using the average of the two. Everything on a scheme's debt book is marked to market now — the old amortisation shortcut is gone.

   Then walk it

   1. The agencies build a matrix from whatever did trade: benchmark government yields, plus a credit spread for that rating and maturity bucket, adjusted for any traded prices in the same issuer.
   2. If there is a trade in the security above a minimum size on that day, the traded price governs. Where there is none, the matrix price applies, which is why two identical bonds of the same issuer and maturity carry the same price across every AMC in the country.
   3. The history matters here. India used to allow amortisation for short residual maturities, first under 60 days then under 30. After 2019 and 2020 SEBI moved the whole debt book to mark to market, so a liquid fund's NAV now moves with rates instead of pretending it cannot.
   4. A default or a downgrade below investment grade triggers a different path: the agencies publish a haircut matrix, the security is written down to the indicated recovery value, and the AMC may create a segregated portfolio.
   5. The AMC can deviate from the agency price only with documented justification, and it must report every deviation to the trustee and disclose it. That audit trail is the control.
   6. The honest limitation: a matrix price is a model, not a market. In a stressed market the printed NAV is achievable only for small redemptions, which is exactly the gap that swing pricing and the 10 percent liquid asset rule were designed to plug.

   Where candidates lose it

   Saying you would mark it at cost or amortise it. That was the pre-2019 world and quoting it dates you badly. The strong answer names the two agencies, says average of the two, and then admits that a matrix price is not an exit price.

   Expect next

   • What happens to the price when the issuer is downgraded to default?
   • Why did SEBI move away from amortisation?
   • How does this interact with swing pricing?

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.