Hedge Funds
Prepalyst has 20 global macro interview questions with model answers, covering policy reaction functions, positioning, carry and expressing a view cleanly. Every question is graded on technical accuracy, completeness and interview communication. Practice is free.
Asked on macro desks because inflation trades often start with breakevens.
What is breakeven inflation and how would you trade a view that inflation expectations are too low?
A foundational EM and FX macro question.
What is a current account deficit and why can it matter for a currency?
A basic arithmetic screen on an FX or macro desk where a wrong quote convention can reverse the trade conclusion.
EUR/USD rises from 1.0800 to 1.1016. What happened to the euro and the US dollar? If you were long EUR/USD with $10m of dollar notional at entry, approximately how much would the position gain before financing and…
Macro desks ask this because the same data print can mean different things under different central banks.
What is a central bank reaction function and why is it more important than one data print?
A first-round macro question testing whether you can read a common growth release without overclaiming from it.
What does a purchasing managers' index, or PMI, measure? A manufacturing PMI falls from 54 to 51 and then to 49. What has changed, and what has not necessarily changed?
A first-round macro question because almost every asset class trades off real rates.
Explain the difference between nominal rates and real rates. Why do macro investors care more about real rates?
Common in FX macro interviews because it explains why the dollar can rally in opposite regimes.
What is the dollar smile and why is it useful?
A rates expression question for macro seats.
Explain the difference between a bull steepener and a bear steepener. What macro environments produce each?
An event-driven macro interview scenario testing whether you trade the change in expectations rather than recite the data level.
Core CPI prints 0.3% month-on-month versus 0.2% consensus. The year-on-year rate still falls from 3.2% to 3.0%, and two-year Treasury yields jump 12bp. Explain the market reaction and what you would investigate before…
A sovereign rates and FX question for macro funds.
What is fiscal dominance and how would it show up in markets?
The recurring event macro desks trade around.
A central bank holds rates unchanged, exactly as expected, and the currency rallies 1.5%. Explain how that happens.
A trade-expression question around growth, inflation and central-bank expectations.
The market is debating a soft landing. What does that mean, and how would you express a view that it is underpriced?
Useful for commodity currencies and EM macro interviews.
A commodity-importing country faces a sudden oil price spike. Walk through the macro and market effects.
A common FX macro question because carry trades often look stable until they break.
Why can an FX carry trade earn steady returns for months and then lose a year of gains in days?
A harder EM macro question that links flows, reserves and policy.
How does a balance of payments crisis develop, and what market signals would you watch?
Macro funds test whether you think about the trade's cost and crowding, not just its thesis.
You have a correct macro view but the trade loses money for six months. Name the mechanisms that can cause that, and how you'd guard against them.
Global macro interviews test expression as much as the view itself.
You believe a central bank will cut rates sooner than the market expects. Give me three ways to express that and tell me which you'd choose.
A global-macro analyst replay around a central-bank decision, revised forecasts and positioning.
You are covering a central-bank decision for a global macro portfolio manager. Update the trade as the statement, press conference and cross-market reaction arrive.
A risk-management question for event-driven macro trading.
You have a strong view that a central bank meeting will surprise dovishly, but the outcome is binary. Why might options be better than futures?
A senior-style macro judgement question on whether an apparently cheap currency is an opportunity or a policy-credibility trap.
An emerging-market currency is down 25%, screens cheap on real effective exchange rate, and offers a 15% policy rate. The government has pressured the central bank, imposed limits on converting local currency, and has…
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Firm names indicate where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with the firms named.