What can you tell me about entry level analyst positions w/in equities or fixed income at Morgan? How good are some desks vs. others? I have heard a lot about internal strife at the company.
If I want to get into credit derivatives, options, or commodities what would be the path to get there? Starting at either of these?
Could you also speak on the interview process for any of these?
Thanks.
So this just a random opinion, but Morgan Stanley had the most boring interview i've had in my life. The two interviewers were not engaged, tried to grill me, and were just plain awkward (and these were the people in sales). One woman kept trying to parlay the fact that she went to Harvard, and it was getting pretty irritating.
My friend who had an MD said he was a total jackass ("So, I see that you're a philosophy major. What makes you more desirable than the 3.9 econ/math double major I had before you?" and so forth). in the end, i just had fun messing around with the interviewers (giving them brainteasers) since I already 2 or 3 offers lined up.
In conclusion: boring questions, some math questions on probability, and overall fun time for me, but only because i could be completely insubordinate.
but did you get an offer? :D
nope or he would of added that to the end ;-)
anybody else with any insight?
If you want to get onto those desks, i'd advise not starting out on anything different.
but 10 min. in, I knew I didn't really want to work there which gave me the opportunity to turn the interview around where I asked the brain teaser questions. it was a pretty fun gig because both were so perplexed the whole time after.
Why are equities considered so shitty for trading purposes? Because the general lack of complexity??? What other way can you get to futures & options?
I interviewed for fixed income - the interviews were overall the most technical of any S&T BBs that I experienced. I got probability questions, bond math questions, even geometry questions - even if you don't have a finance background, they'll want to see that you can think analytically. If you make it through the technical part of the interview without getting fazed, then the fit part is easy, in my opinion.
I mean most of that just deals w/ duration, immunization, convexity, yield to maturity and call, and then the variations on bond types right, plus interest rate risk, reinvestment risk, default risk and sinking funds, call provisions and premiums, redeemability rights and various covenants?
Have I left anything significant out?
Yes. Option theory.
haha sorry. equities (from what I gathered) are generally more boring and less complex, especially with fixed income as a hotspot right now (i forgot to mention that I interviewed for fixed income). Although, I did see some interesting new things being done with equity derivatives that seemed pretty cool at the time.
I think (at least when i interned in S&T) you need to pick a business to go into first (FX/emerging mkts/commodities/etc.) before you can trade options/futures/exotics/derivatives. Not 100% positive, but it seemed like alot of the traders I knew were on a specific desk before getting into more complex trades.
So now you're doing IB instead? I've come to the conclusion that I am basically fed up with my current job and am considering quitting to seek gainful employment in the IB world in some capacity. It was always my plan to begin with but recently things have decidedly sped up the process...
im in securitization..i kind of liked the hybrid between ib and capital markets. so it was a good choice for me.
ah, well good luck with the change of careers. =)
I interviewed with them also for an internship and had a pretty similar experience with HerSerendipity. Most of my interviewers (except for one really nice and interesting guy) were rude or just weird. They seemed to be trying really hard to intimidate me and just be a**holes. Maybe this is some kind of tactic? They were the only firm that used it, though. It was more "technical" than my other S&T interviews, but technical in the sense of math questions and not actual fixed income questions (mostly just probability or brain teasers). However, the questions were not really hard. I actually did receive an offer for the summer (which surprised me since everyone was so rude to me). However, what followed was..ridiculous..to put it mildly. HR and 2 of my interviewers literally hounded me for the entire 2 weeks I had to decide. I was considering offers from several other BBs and a hedge fund as well, and I got constant phone calls telling me how awful Goldman, Citi, etc. were. I was told specific very unfavorable things about the summer analyst programs at both GS and Citi, which I later confirmed to be blatant lies from talking with alums of my frat and other friends currently at those 2 firms. One interesting thing I was told - that everyone else who'd received a summer offer from them had accepted - was really funny since I guess they didn't realize that I knew one of the other guys who'd received an offer really well and I knew that he had already turned them down for Goldman. Overall, I just thought it would be terrible to work with people like that and ended up going (happily) elsewhere.
One more thing - even though Morgan Stanley will compare themselves to Goldman Sachs as though they're peers (and the only 2 firms worth considering), that's a pretty big stretch. Morgan is a true peer (actually slightly below but close to par) with Goldman in investment banking, but not so with trading. Goldman has very strong (if not the strongest) desks for pretty much every product, while Morgan is very strong in a few areas (like commodities) and very average in others. Just my advice, but if considering a firm other than Goldman (which is strong pretty much across the board), make sure they are actually good in the product you want to trade/sell. Lehman is also a great firm for trading (and in my opinion, a stronger firm that Morgan except in commodities).
I had a great interview experience at Morgan and I've yet to talk to anyone who has had a horrible one.
Just my experience. I guess it's a crapshoot
did you flub around on the questions they ask you? i'd be worried that if i totally blanked on one or just said "i don't really know" that that would be an automatic rejection
did you flub around on the questions they ask you? i'd be worried that if i totally blanked on one or just said "i don't really know" that that would be an automatic rejection
really know, i think you're supposed to give at least an educated guess. along the lines of "Well, i'm not sure..but here's how i would find out/go about finding out."
Morgan Stanley IE Sales and Trading: Need Guidance (Originally Posted: 02/04/2015)
Hey guys, first post so be gentle. I was just given an offer from MS Institutional Equity for the summer. I'm very interested and they were very pushy on the phone to get me to accept immediately (which I didn't). I have Superdays with Nomura, and Citi this week as well for S&T and STQA respectively. I'm also waiting to hear back from Goldman Strats whom I've had Superdays with (they contacted me on friday to say the had begun making final decisions).
Very Interested in this offer because I'm leaning more towards trading more than anything else and MS for equities is very good. One question is what the full-time conversion rate is. This is very important to me. Another is how would you view this in comparison to other programs? Should I even bother with the other Superdays? Nomura doesn't seem as good and I'm honestly so tired of going on Quant interviews so I'm not sure how I feel about Citi.
Thanks!
Conversion in MS IED is ~60%.
Just out of curiosity, when did you have your MS IED superday?
When was your superday? I had mine a few days ago but haven't heard back.
Heard back immediately. Shockingly (sarcasm) Goldman called to counter immediately with an offer in strats... Tough decision. I'm really mathy but I have the trader personality. Need advice if anyone can give it
Morgan Stanley Sales and trading (Originally Posted: 09/22/2007)
hey guys..
anyone been through or know what first round MS S&T interviews are like?
Also.. what are the preferable desks at MS? How is MS S&T in general? Is it a rotational program? Broad overview of the culture? Any info wil help, Thanks
Interviewed there for Fixed Income. Got more technical questions in those interviews than I did from any other bank (all S&T interviews)
thanks for the reply can you elaborate on what are some technical Qs S&T interviewers typically ask? Ive only been through ib interviews and i imagine technicls in those interviews, which consist of accounting/ basic valuation questions, differs from that of S&T.
Also, did you happen to recieve any brainteasers?
thanks again
preferred desk has got to be commodities - all the big hitters are either there or came from there - shear, shapiro, olav, etc...
equities is a bust - equity derivs is not bad, but there are a lot more good opps in FI.
know negative convexity, duration, etc. - they are technical
Rumor is they aren't hiring through FT recruiting: http://www.dealbreaker.com/2007/10/post_525.php#comments
i didnt get 2nd rounds anyways. they didnt ask me any brainteasers or technical questions.. .. which was really wierd since my friend who interviewed with them over the summer and someone who interviewed with them last year received ONLY brainteasers
and one of my interviewers kept fiddling with his blackberry the whole time... even though markets had closed by then. fucker
This would be for interest rate sales, not trading. Should I still expect it to be very technical?
bump
Morgan Stanley Fixed Income S&T Interview (Originally Posted: 10/27/2009)
Hi,
Anybody have insights into the full time recruiting process for fixed income sales and trading at morgan stanley . What are the interviews and assessment days like. And what is the best way to prepare?
Thank you very much
Buump
As far as I know, they've hit the major schools and their last superday was yesterday. Interviews are a mix of fit questions, brainteasers, and questions about the bond market and basic pricing.
MS Institutional Equity S&T super day (Originally Posted: 01/23/2012)
Hi,
Got invited to super day next Thursday. Just wondered if anyone here has gone through it and have some insights into what kind of questions I should expect and how I should prepare for it.
Thanks
for SA: 5-7 interviews, maybe few 2 on 1's -- all directors basicaly. pretty much all why MS, markets, pitch something etc.
hey is this for NYC? i have the same interview but first round. How is the first round interview?
I had superday and got offer. It was all very personal for me- a lot on my story.
Also, some markets stuff and a lot of MS- why MS, what separates MS from competitors, what makes us unique.
Damnit, I haven't even heard from MS institutional equity yet. Neither has anyone in my university who isn't in the business school.
@hedgefund: NYC. I didn't go through first round so I can't really tell u. @canas15: I think they still have many more super day coming up.
MS S&T commodities and other desks (Originally Posted: 03/07/2013)
.
News flash you put up your top 3 but doesnt mean you get any of them. Commodities are selling off, look at gold, silver, oil, sugar. Not every desk you intern at is going to need someone, but impossible to know ahead of time.
For one and two go for what you want and find interesting. Desks change all the time and is more fit that makes you successful on the desk. Fixed income got a lot of exotic options, to Credit default to FX to bond and rates to even emerging market. Lot of interesting things. Don't like desk you are on try and switch half way through.
MS S&T Fixed Income SA Phone Interview (Originally Posted: 02/19/2010)
This is my first s&t fixed income interview. My background has mainly been corporate finance and the valuations stuff, so I'm not completely familiar s&t as I am with ibd. What types of questions should i expect on a first round phone interview aside from the usual "walk me through your resume" stuff? Will it get very technical about the mechanics of s&t?
The interview is some time next week. superday is the week after. This is for the nyc office.
thanks a bunch.
bump any advice on how I can prepare?
know the difference betwee ns&T and why you want one vs the other.
Morgan Stanley S&T Fixed Income (Originally Posted: 12/09/2009)
hey guys, been following this website for a while but never posted.
anyways, I was wondering what the general view on MS FID? I checked the older treads and it seems like it had a generally good rep, but has that changed in the past year? Also, does anyone know what % of SAs they convert to FT? By the way, what are the best desks in the division? I have an SA offer them already and so I am trying to see how they compare to the rest of the street. thanks for your help.
How did you get a SA offer already........?
someone's connected..
nope, just studying abroad next semester, so had early interviews
bump
A friend of mine summered on the FX desk, had a good time, and went back full-time and is now on the govt agencies desk. He did say that fewer than 50% of his desk got offers after the summer, although that may have also been a particularly brutal year.
thanks, i was actually thinking about asking for fx or maybe structured products.
MS S&T Desk Placement (Originally Posted: 04/28/2010)
How does MS place its intern classes on desks (S&T)? This is not a rotational program, so, is there a "placement day" at the beginning of the internship or something?
MS S&T is rotational (like 90% sure), repo or SecLend is not rotational. If it is not rotational they should have a placement day. I know JPM had their placement day two weeks ago.
Yeah, unless they've changed their practices, MS S&T is rotational (outside of Prime Brokerage and Securities Lending, like Gekko said, you're there for the entire summer).
Thanks for the replies. I believe that Equities is rotational, but FICC is placed.
Equities is definitely rotational. Any suggestions for placements?
MS Fixed Income S&T - how is it really? versus CS? (Originally Posted: 02/24/2012)
Are they on the upswing? More layoffs coming? Is comp really as bad as DealBreaker says? Feel free to PM.
http://dealbreaker.com/2012/01/bonus-watch-12-morgan-stanley/
How do they stack up against CS Fixed Income S&T? Neither seems to be doing so hot in Fixed Income right now - is it worth going to MS for the name?
Those numbers are dead wrong... I know someone who is a 1st year analyst and he got 16k as a HALF YEAR bonus.....
Bonuses are down across the board (except for a handful of top MD performers) but definitely nowhere near the horrible picture given by dealbreaker.
MS Equity S&T superday Thursday (Originally Posted: 09/16/2008)
Who is going?
Any advice from someone that has done it in the past?
they put you in a room with office dividers and axe you questions.
know your pitch/story well and don't BS about investment/trading experience (ie - if you mention a day-trading account you maintain, you sure as hell better be able to justify your trades). MS traders are great, but as outwardly Type-A as any I've seen.
.....and for brain-teasers, think about how things could be solved recursively with a decision tree; they like to ask questions like this to see if you have some intuition regarding options, even if you don't have any prior experience. examples I remember include probability of there having been a 7th game in a series, at the time of game x, given that Team A wins series, etc. Game theory questions use this too.
of course, if you've taken a derivs course, know the greeks well - MS options theory interview was one of the toughest I had.
Good luck with pitching an investment idea in this climate. So much for pitching them short financials.... Dont think that's what they want to hear.
appreciate the input
turns out it is "postponed" anyways...
MS S&T Fixed Income (Originally Posted: 02/20/2010)
Anyone have any info as to MS S&T Fixed income? I received an offer and I'm looking to find out how good it is, or if any desks in particular are best.
Thanks a lot
Hey Heidelberg10, I have an MS phone interview with S&T fixed income coming up next week. Do you have any advice on what they'd ask, esp. the technical questions? How much/deep do i need to know about s&t? thanks a bunch
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