Hi guys,
I have a 90min job interview for an investment analyst position at a multi manager in a few days and one component of the interview is a 30 minute case study. They havent really given me any information about what this is about. Can anybody shed some light on what this could involve?
Thanks
You should ask them about what kind of case study to expect. I recently had one interview where the interviewer presented me with 2 press releases of a company and asked me to identify any red flags in accounting. But really, it could be anything and it’s not really possible to be prepared for all scenarios.
They could be presenting you with some performance and risk statisics for multiple managers and ask you to identify the best manager. In this case ask about the context, i.e. what are the objectives of the client mandate and look at both return and risk, further couch your response in terms of a forward looking context and caution that there are many other (very) important variables at play other than past performance/risk attributes, not least people, organization, etc…
Alternatively they may present you with a short narrative about a manager where perofrmance/risk and other characteristics come into play. Always try and look at the context as well as the operational issues and dont be lured to answer based on performance only.
Then again they may be harsh and just ask you to pitch them a manager, have some story on an equity and FI manager and dont overpitch, i.e. present a balanced view and emphasize the kind of markets where this manager would be expected to perform well and in which the manager may underperform.
good luck
This is the kind of case study I usually give applicants. Typically I will provide 3 tickers and ask that they analyze along the following 3 dynamics:
Is this a good or bad business?
What are the key factors in determining whether this company could be a good investment (long or short) and how would you find out more information toward that end?
If you had a chance to speak with management, what would you ask them?
These are very open-ended questions that provide a chance for me to see how the candidate thinks. I give obscure tickers, not something like AAPL, so generally people are unfamiliar with these companies and have to do original work. This is really the way to separate the men from the boys during the interview process, it cannot be faked. I have found that a lot of people drown in this process which tells me they won’t be self sufficient and probably don’t have the skills to do the job without a lot of help – I don’t necessarily need the analysis to be objectively “correct” per se, but it better be good and convincing.
I usually throw in something really value trappy with a lot of cash on the books and a low P/E to see if they take the bait, that is one of the easier ways to screen out rookie analysts. And by rookie I don’t mean no experience on the resume, you’d be surprised at the quality coming out of some supposed mega funds, etc. On the flip side, I’ve seen people with virtually no experience do really well. I have a 20 year old intern working for me this summer and he’s awesome, way better than many people with investment banking stints, etc.
btw, this cannot be done in 90 minutes, this is a take home exam that is reviewed during the next interview. I don’t think I really answered the original question, but the answer to that is “it depends” and there isn’t really any way to know what they might ask. I would assume it will focus on accounting, valuation, and business analysis.
That is going to be really hard on you because they don’t give you some info only self confident is only your key and your knowledge.