Hedgefund interview questions

What separates you from other candidates? (probably need to change)

I think that my eagerness to act as a sponge and learn as much as I can about anything that I don't know about sets me apart from many other candidates. I feel that many people in a similar position as me have established a set course in there head about where they want to go. When I met with people at my internship this summer I realized that not all successful careers are linear and now am more willing than ever to allow my passion and intuition bring me to whatever job fits right.

What do you think of the economy?

I think that the economy seems to be in a very interesting place right now as there are signs of a recession but different metrics that normally go down are not necessarily correlated as expected. US GDP is down .9 percent but labor market still remains to be strong so I believe that these differences represent the uncertainty of people.

What has been happening in the market the past six months?

going down

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How do you screen for stocks? What is your holding period?

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What do you think of the markets in general right now?

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What would your work colleagues say about you?

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What skills do you bring to our firm?

- discipline - ability to learn quick -flexibility when working with people in different situations -adapability -strong reaction to adversity

What is the Federal Funds Rate?

2.5 as of mid august

Hedge fund portfolio managers want to see these qualities

Are you a normal human being? Will you work hard for us? Will you make us money? Do you know how to pick good investments?

Where do you think interest rates are going? What is driving them?

As expected from the past few months I would expect interest rates to go up as the economy is experiencing an inflationary gap. Interest must go up as inflation increases the value of ones money increases goes down which means that spending goes up. With the rise of interest rates it will become harder to borrow money since you need to pay a higher rate. As a result of this less Money will flow through the economy and the value of one dollar will increase again over time

What happened when you worked with a team and one member wasn't contributing? How did you respond?

At first I did the work for them but very quickly realized that this type of relationship with a colleague is unhealthy so when it happened again I made it clear to that person that they were not acting appropriately.

What happens when you face more work than you can handle?

At first I feel the impulse to attack the work as quickly as I can but as I have grown older I have leaned to step back for a moment and assess the work in order to figure out ways to not only approach it more efficiently but to also figure out methods to potentially reduce the work by different work methods or by outsourcing

Who is your favorite portfolio manager?

Bruce Kovner

What does the term delta mean? What does Alpha mean?

Delta (Δ) is a risk metric that estimates the change in price of a derivative, such as an options contract, given a $1 change in its underlying security. Alpha, often considered the active return on an investment, gauges the performance of an investment against a market index or benchmark that is considered to represent the market's movement as a whole.

What is Duration? What is Convexity?

Duration measures the bond's sensitivity to interest rate changes. Convexity relates to the interaction between a bond's price and its yield as it experiences changes in interest rates.

Do you own any stocks or do any non-work related investing?

Equities, etf's and indexes

What skills do you feel are transferable to this industry?

From my years of studying and playing poker I have developed certain instincts in my decision making that are a result of my hours of studying data and trends in different situations. I think that my ability to gain very strong intuition over time about quantituvet trends in people will allow me to become a very strong evaluater of different markets

Tell me about yourself. Walk me through your resume.

I am currently a rising sophomore studying Industrial Engineering, Economics and Classics. I would consider myself a quantity oriented student and thinker. My brain operates in a systematic and analytical fashion both in the professional world and in my personal life. When I was in high school I knew that I liked to analyze problems quantitavilut but I felt that the best way to differentiate myself at the time was to act in more of an entrepreneurial fashion. When I was in 10th grade I started a security business which functioned in NYC to provide event staff for higher end events and clients. I enjoyed the ups and downs and starting a small business and am passionate about entrepreneurship. Given my experience starting my own compnay at a young age I was elected vice president of northwestern's largest entrepreneurship club this past spring. This summer I was open to working at any type of startup and I was lucky enough to land an internship at Enfusion. Enfusion is a private equity backed fintech startup which provides a software that offers hedge fund managers and asset managers a full front to back solution. My job as a solutions engineer was to oscillate demos and maintain the demo environment within our software for prospective clients. Through this work and the overall experience I was exposed to how many different types of HF's operate and invest today and from that I gained an intense curiosity to work at a HF. As I started to learn more about HF's I realized that some of my personality traits and hobby's relate to what is needed in a HF. I love game theory and statistics and am very passionate about games like poker and chess and have had particular success in poker at a very young age.

What do you read to find out your news? Wall Street Journal? The New York Times?

I am subscribed to many newsletters from the New York post, New York Times, morning brew and other more specific ones like HFM

Are you risk-averse or do you like taking risk?

I consider myself someone as someone who is not risk averse at all but I prefer to take calculated risks where I can mitigate some of the risk factor rather than being a daredevil

Do you have an industry preference?

I do not believe that I currently have an industry preference. However I just started reading a book that was recommended to me by a college called market wizards and from the beginning of the book trading commodities and currencies seems very cool to me. I like how the trends that you see in those types of markets are reflective of real life events and macroeconomic trends

If you had $100,000 to invest, where would you put it?

I have always been told that the most important thing to do when investing is to ensure that you have a diversified portfolio. While that is important I believe that I have to be careful that I don't over diverfisy as I would want ro avoid having too many unique positions to keep track of as well as avoiding correlated trades. So given my young age and lack of experience trading I would choose a singular industry and allocate my funds within that industry using different investing instruments so that I could take advantage of different trends within the markets within that industry.

Have you had a performance review? What did it say?

I have never received a formal performance review but my former manager always attributed my ability to think outside of the box in a creative manner.

Give me a long idea. Give me a short idea.

I would long gold and short oil (futures contracts for for end of the year)

What do you invest in?

In the middle of highschool I started investing lightly in indexes and equities but have not attempted to trade any other instruments. As I gain more knowledge I hope to start playing around with options and futures.

What books are you currently reading?

Market wizards by jack schwager

Why do you want to work for our firm in particular? What is attractive about our firm?

One thing about Elliott Management which appeals to me is the fact that it engages in a multifaceted, complex investment strategy. For me that makes both the investment aspect and operations aspects more appealing as both of those things are not as vanilla as the practices of a more basic firm. I also like how Elliott has been around for a long time as I would assume with that there would be a plethora of vert experienced people working there in comparison to other funds which are mostly comprised of younger people. I also like how in comparison to other large HF's, Elliott has a smaller amount of employers which likely fosters a very nourishing and personalized environment.

If you could invest in anything, anywhere in the world right now, what would that be?

Rental markets and the casino industry (both in US)

What does the yield curve look like and what does it mean?

Right now we are experiencing an inverted yield curve. The yield curve represents the economies interest in bonds at different points in time from the present. Since the curve is inverted this means that people don't have confidence in market today so invest in more longer term bonds which saturates the market for lets say a 10yr treasury and therefore the yield is lower

What is meant by the term "securities lending"?

Securities lending is the practice of loaning shares of stock, commodities, derivative contracts, or other securities to other investors or firms. Securities lending requires the borrower to put up collateral, whether cash, other securities, or a letter of credit.

What are you biggest strengths? Biggest weaknesses?

Strength: ability to adapt and willingness to be put under many different types of circumstances. Ability to turn recognition of trends into intuition Weaknesses: making impulsive decisions that are nor backed by any formidable thought process.

What are the easiest decisions for you?

The easiest decisions for me to make are ones that are not driven by data, emotion or impulse but rather when I feel an instinctual response to a situation that is formed by experience

What do you plan to do in the next 5-10 years?

This is a very hard question for me to answer given my lack of experience in any industry. However if I were to lay out my next 5 years right now I would say that I want to put myself in as many different and difficult situations as possible so I can learn from those who know how to navigate those more difficult situations

Why do you want to work for a hedge fund?

This summer I was open to working at any type of startup and I was lucky enough to land an internship at Enfusion. Enfusion is a private equity backed fintech startup which provides a software that offers hedge fund managers and asset managers a full front to back solution. My job as a solutions engineer was to oscillate demos and maintain the demo environment within our software for prospective clients. Through this work and the overall experience I was exposed to how many different types of HF's operate and invest today and from that I gained an intense curiosity to work at a HF. As I started to learn more about HF's I realized that some of my personality traits and hobby's relate to what is needed in a HF. I love game theory and statistics and am very passionate about games like poker and chess and have had particular success in poker at a very young age. Both the investment side and operations side of HF appeal to me as both are essential tp run. a well oiled machine. I am not only satisfied by efficient processes but am fascinated by investing in the public markets. Quantitative trends and Insitinctal thinking based of analysis are both things that I believe I not only excel in but am also passionate about getting better at. Numbers speak to me and connect my mind to world around me. I feel that a great way to apply my relationship with quantitative thinking is through investing.