A Personal Finance Guide

15 Most Common Banking & Finance Interview Questions

Some of the most common interview questions for an investment banking interview include (some are a bit on the tough side but they DO come up very often, increasingly as a means of trimming down the candidate lists as the finance graduate job market gets harsher):

1. How many degrees (if any) are there in the angle between the hour and the minute hands of a clock when the time is a quarter past three? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for entry level investment banking graduate jobs]
2. Find the smallest positive integer that leaves a remainder of 1 when divided by 2, a remainder of 2 when divided by 3, a remainder of 3 when divided by 4,… and a remainder of 9 when divided by 10 [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]
3. Two standard options have exactly the same features, expect that one has long maturity, and the other has short maturity. Which one has the higher gamma? [Typically asked during interviews for bank derivatives trading jobs]
4. How do you calculate an option’s delta? [Asked during investment banking interviews for derivatives trading jobs]
5. When can hedging an options position make you take on more risk? [Typically asked during interviews for trading jobs]
6. Are you better off using implied standard deviation or historical standard deviation to forecast volatility? Why? [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance jobs]
7. Describe “duration” and “convexity”. Describe their properties and uses [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking jobs]
8. Two players A and B play a marble game. Each player has both a red and a blue marble. They present one marble to each other. If both present red, A wins $3. If both present blue, A wins $1. If the colors do not match, B wins $2. Is it better to be A or B, or does it matter? [Asked during interviews for quantitative finance or derivatives jobs]
9. How do you “value” yourself? Here “value” means in financial terms [Typically asked during interviews for MBA finance jobs or experienced banking hires]
10. What distinguishes you from other candidates we might hire? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for graduate investment banking vacancies]
11. If you could go on a cross-country car trip with any three people, who would you choose? Why? [Typically asked during interviews for corporate finance / mergers & acquisitions banking jobs]
12. Tell be about a stock you like or hate and why [Asked by job interviewers for any accounting, finance or job!]
13. What is the difference between default and prepayment risk? [Typically asked during interviews for credit jobs / risk management jobs]
14. How would you move mount Fuji? [Typically asked during investment banking interviews for consulting jobs or graduate accounting jobs]
15. Estimate the annual car demand for car batteries [Typically asked during interviews for corporate finance jobs, mergers & acquisition banking jobs or consulting jobs]

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0% Car Finance Deals Take Care of the Traps

Nowadays most of the lenders and dealers are adopting the interesting strategy on car loans which is known as the zero percent car finance. This simply means that a person can save his lot of money which would have otherwise spent on the rate of interest. That is why; the people who are interested in purchasing the car get attracted to this offer.

But this strategy has many faults and is just used by the dealers to attract the buyers and customers. It had been revealed that only one-third of the customers are qualified for the zero percent car finance because there are some conditions that need to be fulfilled by the customers. Some of the conditions are mentioned below: -

i.Credit score: – the credit reports of the customers are considered in the case of the zero percent finance deals. Not only this, the guidelines and other terms are also severe for the credit score. If a person is suffering from the bad credit history then he could be denied of the car finance. To get the zero percent car finance deal a person must have the credit score of above 700. This criteria of the bad credit score can makes a person ineligible of getting the loan because most of the people who are applying for the zero percent car finance deals have a bad remark on the history of the credit.

ii.Selected models: – another fact is that these zero percent car finance deals are only applicable for the few car models which are present with the dealers. Misery is even more added when customers came to know that the models on which this scheme is available are outdated and are not in demand because of many reasons like the bad performance, less efficiency and mileage. Sometimes the desired models of the car can be available with the dealerships but then the interior and colors of the models are not accepted by the customers.

iii.Short duration: – another tactic followed by the dealers is that they provide the zero percent car finance deals for a very shorter period of time. In most of the case the time of 36 months is given by the dealers where the buyers demand for 48-72 months. There is no interest charged for these finance deals but the monthly payment is very high as the time period is very short.

MotorCarLoans offers a free to use and independent service for car loan and car finance. We also provide car insurance as well as other car-related products such as Breakdown Cover, Car Warranty, as well as useful Articles and Guides.

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How to Decide Your Loan Agent Online

Many of us think that we are contended with what we have, but the fact is that at some point in life we just need to get indebted. Taking a loan is an essential part of life. But this has to be planned very carefully. Now borrowing a loan worth a fortune when you earn peanuts would be illogical. It would land up to nothing but a legal crime as you will not be able to pay and as a result you would end up behind the bars. Hence, you must take evaluated loans only when required.

There are several companies that give loans. Some of the leading names include HSBC, GE Money, Black Horse Finance, FirstPlus, Alliance and Leicester, Blemain Finance, Paragon, etc. Now, there are two ways of taking the loan. One is to contact the bank or financial institution directly and seek help. The other is to get to them through an agent. These are many people who become authorized agents and help you get loan from several banks. You can contact them online. But how do you know if the person you have located on the internet is genuine or not? Given here are some tips to check out the same.

The first and foremost thing is to check if he or she is an authorized agent or not. For that tell them to give their dealership or agent number. You can check the details of the person with the bank through this number. Also if you have got through the person through his or her own web page or website, see that it must state the contact details of the person. The essential parts of the details are contact number, address and company name if any. Call up the given number to confirm about him or her.

Next important thing is that you must not share all your financial details until and unless you are sure that he or she is genuine. Tell them the income but not the work place. State the area but not the full address. If possible initially tell them just an internet name. Reveal the real name only when you are sure of the person.

You must cross check the details of the package they offer with the bank’s own website. If you find any variation or some points are not clear, do not be hesitant to ask for the clarification. There is no issue in acting a complete fool while asking these questions. This would be a perfect test of the person’s knowledge about the package and the bank.

Further, ask them to give you a few options. Do not just stick to one scheme or one bank or company. You must compare two to three packages among themselves to know the most economical one out of the entire lot.

You must also ask them for some help regarding the government grants. If the agent is experienced in the field, he or she would surely be able to guide you and save you some precious dollars in the long run.

Learn more about loan services from top brands like black horse finance and paragon from author’s site.

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