Ib Advisory interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about your most impressive project or accomplishment.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why investment banking?
5. Why the firm?
6. Why the sector? (e.g. Why M&A? Why Healthcare? Why Tech?)
7. What do you think makes the firm distinct from a top competitor?
8. Do you know what banking hours are really like? Why are you OK with that?

Technical concepts to master

• Three financial statements — connections you'll be probed on

  Income statement (IS) overview · Balance sheet (BS) overview · Cash flow statement (CFS) overview · Statement connections — the canonical question · Prepaid expense scenario

• Enterprise Value vs Equity Value — the bridge

  Equity Value (Market Cap) · Enterprise Value · The bridge — Equity Value → Enterprise Value · Why cash is subtracted · Which multiples use EV vs which use Equity Value

• The three core valuation methodologies

  Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) · Public Company Comparables (Comps) · Precedent Transactions · When each is most relevant · Methodologies you specifically would NOT use

• Merger model — accretion/dilution and deal mechanics

  Accretion / dilution — the math · Form of consideration — cash vs stock vs debt · Synergies — revenue vs cost · Control premium · Sources & Uses

• LBO fundamentals — capital structure and returns

  LBO structure · Returns drivers — the three sources · Capital structure — debt tranches · Paper LBO — the simplified math · Cash flow available for debt repayment

Practical drills

• Walk me through a DCF analysis from start to finish.
• Depreciation goes up by $10. Walk me through what happens to the three financial statements. Assume a 40% tax rate.
• A the sector company with $500M revenue and $100M EBITDA, growing 15% YoY, is being sold. How would you value it?

Smart-question anchors

• Group-specific deal flow: how the team's deal mix has evolved over the last 12-24 months; what types of mandates are winning vs declining
• Analyst experience and learning curve: what does year-one look like; how do staffers balance modeling depth vs. exposure breadth
• Sector or product specialization signal: where the group is investing in headcount; which sub-sectors are seeing senior banker conviction
• Promotion path and culture: what differentiates Analysts who get promoted vs. those who exit; how does the group balance long hours with development
• Recent landmark transaction: ask about the specific dynamics behind one named deal (without asking for confidential info) — shows you've done your homework

Sourced from

Mergers & Inquisitions / Breaking Into Wall Street · Wall Street Oasis (WSO) · Damodaran (NYU) · Bruce Greenwald, From Graham to Buffett