6 questions reported in KBW interviews, organised by the group that asks them. Every question carries a model answer and graded feedback on your own attempt.
Questions
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Hard
Model builds
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Regulatory capital, ROTE against cost of equity, and why EV is meaningless. 5 questions
An insurance FIG interviewer asks this when testing whether a candidate can connect risk transfer to earnings and capital.
You are preparing a P&C insurer earnings preview. Explain what reinsurance is, the two common structures, and how buying more of it changes the insurer's earnings, risk and capital needs.
A first-round FIG interviewer uses this to see whether you understand why deposits matter beyond their reported balance.
A regional bank says it has $50 billion of deposits. What makes those deposits valuable, and what would make you discount that headline number?
A FIG superday case tests whether you can connect a bank's securities mark to its ability to pay for an acquisition.
A bank has $100bn of risk-weighted assets and $11bn of CET1 capital, so its CET1 ratio is 11.0%. It holds $20bn of available-for-sale securities with a $2bn unrealised loss in accumulated other…
A FIG case uses reserve development to test whether you can distinguish a one-time accounting charge from a signal about underwriting quality and capital capacity.
A P&C insurer reports a 5-point adverse prior-year reserve development charge, taking its combined ratio from 96% to 101%. Management calls the charge isolated and maintains its buyback plan. How…
FIG coverage interviews test whether you can value a business where debt is inventory.
Why do some banks trade above tangible book value and others below? Give me the relationship, and explain what a bank can actually do about it.
Merger models, accretion/dilution, purchase accounting and deal judgement. 1 question
Essential for FIG groups; also a common curveball in generalist interviews.
Why can't you value a bank with a standard DCF and EV/EBITDA? Walk me through how you would value one instead.
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Company tags reflect where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with KBW.