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About this interview
A technical interview on Buy-Side & Markets, pitched at the hard level. A voice AI interviewer leads the conversation, adapts its questions to your answers, keeps you on topic, and afterward gives you honest, specific feedback on where you were strong and where to improve. Expect roughly 30 minutes.
What you'll be assessed on
Calculate and interpret core risk-adjusted return measures (Sharpe, Sortino, VaR, expected shortfall) and state what each does and doesn't capture
Construct and size a market-neutral pair trade verbally -- dollar-neutral versus beta-neutral -- and explain why the sizing choice changes gross exposure and risk
Walk through options payoff and hedging mechanics (calls, protective puts, delta hedging, gamma risk) with correct numbers
Defend a portfolio-level risk decision (position sizing under drawdown, catalyst-driven entry/exit, stop-loss discipline) the way a real risk-conscious PM would
Distinguish hedge fund strategy types and fund mechanics, and reason about a macro scenario using a repeatable framework rather than a single fixed prediction
Topics covered
Return AttributionShort MechanicsMarket NeutralityFund Fee StructureRisk-Adjusted ReturnFixed Income RiskPortfolio Risk ManagementStrategy TaxonomyFund MechanicsPair Trade MechanicsPortfolio ConstructionOptions MechanicsOptions HedgingThesis Construction
A few sample questions
Just examples to set expectations - the real interview has many more and adapts to your responses.
“In one line, what's the difference between alpha and beta in the context of a long/short hedge fund strategy?
“What does Value-at-Risk fail to tell you that expected shortfall, or CVaR, actually captures?
“Why does a delta-hedged short-option position still carry real risk, even though it's delta-neutral at the moment you put the hedge on?