JP Morgan IB Risk

Hey all. I just searched throughout the site and found only outdated and unhelpful info on the IB Risk analyst program at JP Morgan. What questions should I expect at a first round interview?

This is being held on site at JP Morgan and not on campus. I've been preparing for ib interviews and have been poring over both the WSO guides and Merger and Inquisitions guide. What kind of q's could I expect to be asked about risk? Thanks

 

JP loves fit questions. $5 says you'll get a question like "What's the biggest risk you've ever taken?" Of course, be ready with examples of when you worked on a team, made a mistake, etc.

When it comes to technicals, they don't get too hard unless you come from a finance background. If you don't have much of a finance background, it'll be something like: "Which is more expensive, debt or equity?" Also, expect some variation of "If I gave you ten million dollars, what would you do with it?" You can answer with some obscure investments that you can make that show your interest in finance and current events, or you could be creative and say "I'd put it into building infrastructure in Africa, because only once they have roads and electricity will they ever be able to develop a market economy. In 10 years, I expect the money to have generated x-% return.

If you do have a finance background, chances are that you'll get a WACC question or a valuation question. Since Risk valuations often look at discrete asset values or market/ebitda multiples (especially when determining loss-given-default scenarios), impress your interviewer with a knowledge of those topics.

 
Best Response

It's definitely front office.

When a client comes in and wants to do a deal at JPM, 3 groups go into the meeting. The industry coverage people are the ones who bring in the business/use modeling to show clients why they should do a deal. The product team, i.e. Debt Capital Markets or Equity Capital Markets, specializing in the type of instrument to be used advises on pricing. Lastly IB Risk structures the deal and looks out for any risk the firm retains. Once clients figure out that IB RIsk holds the purse strings, they tend to keep in touch with the IB Risk group assigned to their deal--this often includes invites for onsite due diligence. Utimately, IB Risk has the authority to veto a deal if they think it's too risky for the firm.

IB Risk also houses the workout group that focuses on distressed companies and the Sovereign ratings advisory group, which advises governments on how to boost their agency ratings.

 
topper007style:
It's definitely front office.

When a client comes in and wants to do a deal at JPM, 3 groups go into the meeting. The industry coverage people are the ones who bring in the business/use modeling to show clients why they should do a deal. The product team, i.e. Debt Capital Markets or Equity Capital Markets, specializing in the type of instrument to be used advises on pricing. Lastly IB Risk structures the deal and looks out for any risk the firm retains. Once clients figure out that IB RIsk holds the purse strings, they tend to keep in touch with the IB Risk group assigned to their deal--this often includes invites for onsite due diligence. Utimately, IB Risk has the authority to veto a deal if they think it's too risky for the firm.

IB Risk also houses the workout group that focuses on distressed companies and the Sovereign ratings advisory group, which advises governments on how to boost their agency ratings.

You are absolutely clueless dude. Read the fucking job description for IB risk. It's the exact same role as risk in CS, GS or any other bank. JP morgan just adds IB in front of everything to differentiate the fact that you're doing this for the investment bank instead of the commercial bank. They do the same thing with operations.

http://careers.jpmorgan.com/student/jpmorgan/careers/us/business/risk

This is a bo/mo role. It does not generate revenue. If you go in acting like it's a front office role or as if you're interviewing for an investment banking position, you will look retarded.

 

The interview will be mostly fit. They ask the questions mentioned above. Be able to answer "Walk me through a DCF", "What happens if there is now $100 depreciation", etc. The typical IB technical questions.

 

The risk team has absolutely no decision making power to accept/decline deals. Those are up to the bankers to decide. I have seen some really crap deals go through the risk pipeline that, on a fundamental credit basis, the bank should not lend money to the company, but they do it for other relationship driven purposes.

 

I was invited to the superday this Friday after applying online (no first round or anything, no contacts). I can't go though because I already committed to another superday. However, I interviewed with GS for market risk and the interview was 90% technical (duration, convexity, gamma/theta relationships of options, effects of changing vol on option Greeks, time spread characteristics, credit risk, CDS spreads, current macro events, FX forward pricing, covered interest rate parity, Monte Carlo simulation, and basic statistics/probability, just to name a few). Essentially it was rapid fire technicals for 30 minutes and I got them all right. I interviewed with a physics PhD and a MFE, so I expected the interview to be technical from the start. I have no idea how technical JPM risk might be, but be ready for anything. Good luck!

 
nontarget kid:
I was invited to the superday this Friday after applying online (no first round or anything, no contacts). I can't go though because I already committed to another superday. However, I interviewed with GS for market risk and the interview was 90% technical (duration, convexity, gamma/theta relationships of options, effects of changing vol on option Greeks, time spread characteristics, credit risk, CDS spreads, current macro events, FX forward pricing, covered interest rate parity, Monte Carlo simulation, and basic statistics/probability, just to name a few). Essentially it was rapid fire technicals for 30 minutes and I got them all right. I interviewed with a physics PhD and a MFE, so I expected the interview to be technical from the start. I have no idea how technical JPM risk might be, but be ready for anything. Good luck!

hey nontargetkid, congrats!

I was wondering if you are from a nontarget school based on your account name? does anyone know if nontarget and target schools have different superdays for jpm ib risk?

 
nontarget kid:
Yes, I am from what you would consider a nontarget school. Whether or not there are target and nontarget superdays is irrelevant. You should go into the superday and crush the interviews regardless of which situation it is.

haha thanks for the response. I wasn't saying that I wasn't gonna go if I did receive one - just heard some mixed things about target schools and nontarget schools having a different process - but yes,you're right, should go into super days with that kind of mindset. haha

but I had my first round today.

 

I did the IB Risk superday last year for SA, and it was just 3 interviews (all with MD's). One focused on commodities risk (questions were pretty basic, just asking to assess risk a oil refining counterparty), one from hedge fund risk (hardest interview, questions about options, generally understanding hedge funds), and the last was from market risk (pretty much entirely fit).

I would say the questions could vary considerably based on who interviews you, but I would recommend preparing for talking to MD's, not analysts.

 

I'd say 2 went real well. One didnt. Interview was going really well then he began grilling something on my resume like I'd never experienced before. Especially since the resume is the most routine part that I had most answers down. Got thrown a curve ball nd I couldn't remember so I stumbled and became pretty nervous and said some obvious BS stuff. It didn't help that when he asked me a technical, instead of answering with the obvious answer I answered with a more technical answer and he laughed in my face, even though I was right. Real shitty. Oh well, learning experience.

 

Hey bros,

I did the superday interview too...did any of you hear back? They said Wednesday (yesterday), but I'm still waiting and I feel like it isn't a good sign obviously if some of you heard back and I haven't.

 

Yeah same here. Honestly I think we might not be accepted nor rejected. My guess is they extended acceptances to certain people and if they decline then they might take us. I mean it's been a while...

 

Exit opps: a well regarded division but doesn't quite offer the same opps as IBD. After 2-3 years, most analysts opt to internally move to coverage/capital markets/research groups, b-school (M7), corp dev/strategy, or associate promote. There are a few that do successfully move to credit and PE funds.

Learning curve: definitely steep (very few get associate promote) but lesser than that of IBD.

 

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