Ardian Interview Questions

8 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (95%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

4
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (89%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

2.9
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (0%)

The % of Interns Getting a Full Time Offer chart is meant to provide a realistic estimate of the hiring practices of the company based on the reviews at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few reviews). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to the simple company average and away from the average of the entire data set.

9%
  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%
  • 80%
  • 90%
  • 100%

Interviews at Ardian

Get Prepared
Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Intern
Year 2023
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Investor Relations
Location Tokyo
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2023
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location New York
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Difficult
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2020
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division N/A
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2020
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Private Equity
Location New York
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Very Easy
Intern
Year 2019
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Private Equity
Location Singapore
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2018
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Private Equity
Location Beijing
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2017
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Private Equity
Location New York
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Associate
Year 2016
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Private Equity
Location New York
Experience
Negative
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Ardian Examples

Intern Interview - Investor Relations

Anonymous employee in Tokyo
Interviewed: August 2023
Date Submitted: Sep 09, 2023
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Interview
The process consisted of three interviews with the general & administrative staff, an associate of the department applied to, and the head of the branch, respectively. In the first one, they held a casual talk in which they asked about my educational background based on the submitted CV through online chat. In the second one, they demanded to meet in person where they inquired about my degree and speciality more in detail and conducted some tests to evaluate my knowledge in translation between English and the local language as well as in finance (a task-based simulation involving Internal Rate of Return, in my case). The third one was the final round for the head of the office to determine my enthusiasm and personality, thus more relaxed and less technical than the prior one.
Interview Questions
They imposed a task-based simulation question in which information for a series of cash flows and their respective dates for me to calculate the Internal Rate of Return by excel.
Sample Answer

Fund of Funds Intern Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: January 2023
Date Submitted: Feb 02, 2023
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
First round interview on MS Teams with Analyst and Senior Investment Manager. Questions in the first round were centered around why PE, why secondaries, how is a secondary fund different from a primary fund, is the IRR and MOIC higher for secondary / primary fund and technical questions on valuing a company given EBIDTA, multiple, debt, cash. Second round was a 1 on 1 with a MD at Ardian which was mainly questions about why Ardian, why PE?, as well as how does a PE firm operate.
Interview Questions
Is MOIC or IRR greater for primary or secondary funds? Describe how a PE firm operates?
Sample Answer

Intern Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: December 2020
Date Submitted: Jan 07, 2021
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Phone interview with two senior managers. Standard technicals, private equity industry knowledge....
Interview Questions
Walk me through how PE firms make money
Sample Answer

Intern Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: November 2020
Date Submitted: Dec 07, 2020
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
Submitted application and then got first round phone interview. INterviewed with 2 associates who asked me standard behaviorals and technicals.
Interview Questions
What is secondaries?
Sample Answer

Fall Analyst Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous employee in
Interviewed: July 2019
Date Submitted: Jul 12, 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Apply online then an interview with the analyst, just going through resume (good to have something interesting to talk about on your resume). After talking with the analyst, there is a 30 minute technical test about accounting, valuation and irr/moic calculation. The analyst might have some follow up questions depending on your answers on the test.

Next round is with other 2 analysts, also on cv-base questions, going through your experience. No technical since you passed the test.

Last round is with a director, all fit questions about motivation and personality.
Interview Questions
Most unexpected part was about the test since it varies by offices. Some will have lbo related test, some will have more general accounting/valuation one, some don't even have a test.

Also about the interview with the director, you have to prove that you are a goof fit for his project. Maybe just my case since the director was looking for an intern to be on a particular project he is initiating. It is good to drop some names if you had previous experience in the region since he probably knows everyone.
Sample Answer

Private equity Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in Beijing
Interviewed: August 2018
Date Submitted: Aug 23, 2018
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
20min tech + 40 min behavior.
tech including an easy LBO
Spent time on the phone for various informational interviews. Interviewer cut my interview short and barely allowed me to finish thoughts and I even got some stuff wrong, but I guess he was tough on everyone because afterwards he said I did very well.
Interview Questions
Tech questions.
Let’s say Apple is buying $100 worth of new iPod factories with debt. What is on the 3 financial statement.
Now let’s go out 1 year, to the start of Year 2. Assume the debt is high-yield so no principal is paid off, and assume an interest rate of 10%. Also assume the factories depreciate at a rate of 10% per year assuming the tax rate is 20% What happens?
At the start of Year 3, the factories all break down and the value of the equipment is written down to $0. The loan must also be paid back now. Walk me through the 3 statements.
Sample Answer

Summer Investments Analyst Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous employee in New York
Interviewed: April 2017
Date Submitted: Jan 29, 2018
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Interview
I applied through my university. Unusually, I was not even given a phone interview, but invited and flown to New York where I interviewed with two groups of two senior investment managers, then a one on one with a senior investment manager and finally a one on one with the offices co-head. The following week I had a phone call with the other co-head of the office, and was informed of their intention to offer me a spot on that call.
Interview Questions
What is the difference between primary, early secondary, and late secondary private equity investments?

Who are the major players in the private equity fund of funds space? Who are the major private equity investment firms?

With regard to secondary private equity investments, how are the performance metrics (IRR and MoC) likely to differ from primary investments?

What are some different ways to value a company?

What are the three levers of value creation in an LBO?

I was also given a "case," designed to illustrate problem solving and thought process, as well as a quick paper LBO and some other random fit questions.
Sample Answer

Ardian Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: 2016
Date Submitted: Oct 21, 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Employee Referral
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
Coordinated with HR and group members to schedule essentially a super day style interview with all senior members of the NY office
Interview Questions
Hardest questions were more focused on why a Fund of Funds. Why do you want to do fund of funds vs LBO or even direct fund? How does your previous experience prepare you to work at a Fund of Fund? What do you think you will be doing here?
Other questions that weren't very hard were: walk me through an LBO? Perform a quick back of the envelope LBO model and questions on why PE fund of funds are important and investors prefer to use them over traditional buyout funds.
A lot of the focus was also on me not having prior PE experience, despite working in IB.
Sample Answer