Quant interview questions
1,322 questions in the style trading and research firms ask, from probability and brainteasers to options, statistics and coding. Every question is open to read; the 50 in the free sample show their worked solutions here.
113 questions · page 3 of 3 · Clear filters
- You backtest 20 independent strategies with no true skill over one year, where…Alpha and signal research · Applied
- A researcher checks each new idea against the same held-out period and keeps…Alpha and signal research · Applied
- A signal holds 500 names but its returns are almost entirely explained by a…Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- You estimate a covariance matrix for 500 assets from 250 days of returns. What is wrong?Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- A colleague shows you a backtest with a Sharpe ratio of 2.1 over three years.Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- Your signal has a large positive loading on the value factor.Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- A signal has an information coefficient of 0.05 against returns, both approximately normal.Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- You hold 50 names at active weights of ±2%, each with 30% idiosyncratic…Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- Why did regulators move from value at risk to expected shortfall?Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- Two standardised signals are uncorrelated with each other and have ICs 0.04 and 0.03.Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- Positions are proportional to a standardised signal.Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- For normally distributed P&L with zero mean and standard deviation σ, the 97.5%…Alpha and signal research · Advanced
- What does the probability of backtest overfitting measure?Alpha and signal research · Expert
- Ten observations: nine average 2 and one is 100.Research case studies · Foundation
- Why does an interviewer ask for a baseline before you describe your model?Research case studies · Applied · Free solution
- You have finished describing your approach and have two minutes left.Research case studies · Applied
- You forecast demand to decide inventory, where being short costs four times as…Research case studies · Applied
- You are asked how to validate a demand forecasting model built on three years…Research case studies · Applied
- A short-horizon signal earns 8 basis points a trade before costs of 3 basis…Research case studies · Applied
- You must present a forecast whose confidence interval is wide enough to include…Research case studies · Applied
- You build a factor from quarterly fundamentals downloaded from a vendor today.Research case studies · Advanced
- You run a difference-in-differences study.Research case studies · Advanced
- Your model assigns a 10% probability to 1,000 cases and 150 of them occur.Research case studies · Advanced
- You join trades to quotes using the exchange timestamp on both. What can still go wrong?Research case studies · Advanced
- How many independent observations are needed to detect an information…Research case studies · Advanced
- Your model degrades sharply after a known market structure change.Research case studies · Advanced
- Using daily closing prices, you find that large-cap returns predict next-day…Research case studies · Advanced
- A strategy grows $100 to $150 over three years.Python and data for quants · Foundation
- A strategy has a daily Sharpe ratio of 0.1. What is its annualised Sharpe ratio?Python and data for quants · Applied
- For the data 1,2,3,4, pandas’ Series.std() (default ddof=1) returns what, to…Python and data for quants · Applied
- A daily signal is computed from each day’s close.Python and data for quants · Applied
- Portfolio weights move from (0.5,0.5) to (0.7,0.3). What is the one-way turnover?Python and data for quants · Applied
- You build a ten-year backtest on the stocks currently in an index.Python and data for quants · Advanced