7 questions reported in Loomis Sayles interviews, organised by the group that asks them. Every question carries a model answer and graded feedback on your own attempt.
Questions
Easy · Medium
Hard
Model builds
Built in the spreadsheet grid
Duration and curve positioning, spread decisions and index construction. 7 questions
A common first-round question for a manager who invests across government and corporate bonds.
A five-year corporate bond yields 5.2% and a five-year Treasury yields 4.4%. What is the 80bp spread compensating an investor for?
A portfolio-review question testing whether you can explain a corporate-bond return without merely repeating its total return.
An investment-grade corporate bond has a Treasury duration of 5.0 and a spread duration of 4.5. During the month, its Treasury yield falls 20bp while its credit spread widens 30bp. Ignore carry and…
A core analyst question for a credit research rotation within a fixed-income manager.
You are considering a five-year bond issued by an investment-grade company. What would you analyse before buying it?
A final-round portfolio case that makes candidates prioritise several risks under one mandate.
You manage a core bond fund benchmarked to the Aggregate index. Growth is slowing, inflation is falling but still above target, and investment-grade spreads are tight. How would you position the fund?
A fixed-income portfolio-manager case during a busy primary market calendar.
A BBB issuer offers a new bond at a 20bp concession to its secondary curve. The syndicate says demand is strong. How would you decide whether to participate?
The second major allocation decision in a multi-sector bond mandate.
Investment grade spreads are at 90bp, near historic tights. Do you underweight credit? Walk me through the decision.
A conceptual question that reveals whether a candidate understands the asset class.
Why is a market-capitalisation-weighted bond index a strange benchmark? What do managers do about it?
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 Loomis Sayles.