Quant interview questions

496 questions · page 2 of 13 · Clear filters

• What does the Sprague–Grundy theorem say about impartial games under normal play?Games, decision theory and puzzles · Expert
• One hundred prisoners each open fifty of one hundred boxes to find their own…Games, decision theory and puzzles · Expert
• A shuffled deck of 26 red and 26 black cards is turned over one card at a time.Games, decision theory and puzzles · Expert
• A strategy’s daily Sharpe ratio is 0.1.Market making · Foundation
• Two strategies each have a Sharpe ratio of 1 and the same volatility, and their…Market making · Applied
• A strategy has an expected excess return of 8% a year and a volatility of 20%…Market making · Advanced
• A corporate bond yields 250 basis points more than the matched Treasury.Markets and products · Foundation
• The ten-year nominal Treasury yields 4.2% and the ten-year inflation-protected…Markets and products · Foundation
• The E-mini S&P 500 future has a multiplier of $50 per index point.Markets and products · Foundation
• A parent company trading at $100 spins off a subsidiary, distributing one…Markets and products · Foundation
• US payrolls come in far stronger than expected, with no change in inflation data.Markets and products · Foundation
• You pitch a long at $50 with a target of $60 and a stop at $45.Markets and products · Foundation
• You risk 1% of a $1,000,000 account on each idea.Markets and products · Foundation
• The two-year yield exceeds the ten-year. What is the market saying?Markets and products · Applied
• You pitch a long position because a company looks cheap on earnings.Markets and products · Applied
• A target trades at $47 against a $50 all-cash offer, and would fall to $38 if…Markets and products · Applied
• You have pitched a long with a thesis, a catalyst and a target.Markets and products · Applied
• A company has a constant default intensity of 2% a year and bondholders expect…Markets and products · Applied
• Front-month crude trades at $70 and the next month at $72.Markets and products · Applied
• An acquirer offers 0.5 of its own shares for each target share.Markets and products · Applied
• A company’s shares trade at $10.Markets and products · Applied
• Using the original Taylor rule, i = r*+π+0.5(π−π*)+0.5 y, with a neutral real…Markets and products · Applied
• The policy rate is 4.50%.Markets and products · Applied
• What is the main channel through which quantitative easing lowers long-term…Markets and products · Applied
• Long-Term Capital Management collapsed in 1998. What best describes why?Markets and products · Applied
• In January 2015 the Swiss franc rose by around a fifth against the euro within minutes.Markets and products · Applied
• A stock enters an index at 0.1% weight.Markets and products · Advanced
• A heavily shorted small-cap rises several hundred per cent in days.Markets and products · Advanced
• In April 2020 the front WTI crude contract settled below zero. What made that possible?Markets and products · Advanced
• A 3 × daily leveraged ETF tracks an index with 20% annual volatility.Markets and products · Advanced
• In late September 2022 long-dated UK gilt yields rose so fast that the Bank of…Markets and products · Advanced
• A ten-year zero-coupon bond yields 5% annually.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• A project costs $100 today and pays $60 at the end of each of the next two years.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• A loan charges 12% a year compounded monthly.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• A cash flow of $5 arrives in one year and then grows at 3% a year forever.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• A bond pays a 6% coupon semiannually on $100 face.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• What is the price of a five-year zero-coupon bond with $100 face at a…Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• You enter a swap paying fixed and receiving floating.Time value, rates and linear products · Foundation
• A bond has modified duration 7.Time value, rates and linear products · Applied
• You hold $10 million of a bond at par with modified duration 7.Time value, rates and linear products · Applied