Fidelity Equity Research Superday

Hey guys,

Got a first round interview for Fidelity's equity research summer associate position in Boston. Dug up all the threads here on WSO and read everything I could so I can prepare for it next week. Phone interview.

Just wondering if anyone has gone through first rounds and if they could offer any advice/color into the questions asked and overall interview process for a non target.

Thanks in advance

 
Best Response

Congrats on getting this far, I know Fidelity pays very very well (base might even be higher than investment banking) - I know someone who did both the Boston & Toronto superday .. I'm not sure which city this was for, but I know they said they asked him to prepare a pitch on a stock (They gave him a couple of days). The Fidelity guys are junkies about markets. You go in and meet a bunch of PMs, and it tends to be more technical... Often times they may ask you your thoughts on stocks in a sector you've covered before.

The best way to prepare is to prepare for any buy-side interview.

I dug up some old advice forwarded by a friend from a Boston Fidelity analyst

-They will cover a lot of stuff. Don't expect much "behavioral" or "fit" questions. It's going to be mostly investments and stocks talk.

-For a better understanding of the job, check out: https://jobs.fidelity.com/investment/. Know why investment management is a good fit for you.

-They need to see passion for the market. If it's your case, what shows that? What news sources do you follow? What books have you read?

-Know at least two stocks very well (what's your top pick now?). Perhaps one short ideas as well. If you have a PA or simulated portfolio, review the rationale of why you purchased/sold those stocks. Even if a trade did not end up well, know which lessons you can get out of it. Keep all pitched short, but know much more and expand on request. Know more pitches for the 2nd round.

-Know an investment "theme", especially related to the sector you have covered if you were in a student fund.

-In terms of “technicals”, valuation-related questions is obviously a key area of focus. See links below for other types of IM interview technical Qs.

-China: this is obviously on top of their mind so you might want to think through the consequences of that a little bit. Have a view of other key macro events (e.g. Europe) and their investment implications.

-PMs You can check each PM's fund and their holdings on Fido's website. If you have a view on one of their top holdings, they'll surely like to discuss it. But don't bullshit!

-Expect a lot of questions about the market in general... There was a lot of stuff I didn't know they asked me. But just try to build links with what you know and show some thinking process.

 

Thanks for the reply, very helpful! My superday is mid-week and it is for the Boston office. It seems like the consensus I have gotten is that, like you mentioned, they want to see passion for the markets.

This is 100% the right path for me; investing started out as a hobby for me in high school and slowly ballooned into something much bigger. I have a subscription to the WSJ, read Peter Lynch's book, started Ben Graham's book and follow other market-research blogs/websites very closely (seekingalpha more so for news, dealbook, marketsnacks etc.) I also have my own portfolio and built a ~20 page slide deck of a stock I'm going to pitch them.

But my ultimate question is how do I stick out? Surly everyone who has made it this far in the process is going to be just as interested in stocks as I am and will all read from the same sources and have their own personal brokerage accounts or simulated ones. I know this is the perfect opportunity/fit for me, but I feel like it would be for all the other people who made it to the superday. So I'm just trying to gauge what specifically the PM's will be evaluating us on if "market knowledge" and general interest is the main evaluating factor.

 

This might sound obvious but rarely happens... have an extremely good and well thought out stock pitch... preferably two.

I've gotten many "stock pitches" in the past which sounded more likes sales pitches from someone who didn't know what they were talking about. If you present an idea and answer most of my questions well enough that I feel like I want to buy the stock right away then you're in unless your personality is a big misfit.

 

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