Ardian Interview Questions (2025) - 12 Entries

Ardian Interview Questions

12 total interview insight submissions

Interview Experience (91%)

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.

3.8

Very Negative
Negative
Neutral
Positive
Very Positive

Interview Difficulty (88%)

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.

2.8

Very Easy
Easy
Average
Difficult
Very Difficult

% Interns - FT Offers (1%)

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.

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

Interviews at Ardian

Get Prepared

Year

Job Title

Group/Division

Location

Experience

Difficulty

Intern

Year 2024

Job Title Intern

Group/Division Leveraged Buyouts

Location Paris

Experience

Very Positive

Difficulty

Average

Student / Prospective Monkey

Year 2024

Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey

Group/Division N/A

Location New York

Experience

Neutral

Difficulty

Average

Intern

Year 2023

Job Title Intern

Group/Division Private Equity

Location Milan

Experience

Neutral

Difficulty

Easy

Intern

Year 2024

Job Title Intern

Group/Division Infrastructure

Location London

Experience

Neutral

Difficulty

Average

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

Interview Questions & Answers - Ardian Examples

Intern - Buyout Interview - Leveraged Buyouts

Anonymous employee in Paris

Interviewed: December 2024

Date Submitted: Jan 22, 2025

Outcome

Accepted Offer

Interview Source

Employee Referral

Length of Process

Less than 1 month

Application

1 on 1 Interview

Interview

2 rounds of 1h interviews each with 2 members of the team
- Mostly business sense and classic finance questions

Interview Questions

Extensive questions about the business model of one of their portfolio company

Sample Answer

PE Secondaries & Primaries Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Interviewed: February 2024

Date Submitted: Sep 25, 2024

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

College / University / On Campus Recruiting

Length of Process

Less than 1 month

Application

Phone Interview

1 on 1 Interview

Presentation

Personality Test

Interview

The interview process was fairly technical. Heavy on having modeling experience. Understand the secondaries and fundraising spaces in detail. Spoke a lot to macro environments

Interview Questions

How would you set up a sensitivity analysis in a DCF model? What variables would you test

Sample Answer

Internship PE Interview - Private Equity

Anonymous interview candidate in Milan

Interviewed: May 2023

Date Submitted: Sep 11, 2024

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

College / University / On Campus Recruiting

Length of Process

Less than 1 month

Application

1 on 1 Interview

Interview

Pretty straightforward technical/behavioral interview where they also asked me about Ardian how much they have in AuM, last fundraisings etc.

After that have been asked a bunch of technical questions that starte from if you could choose one financial statment which one would it be, what if you could pick two, what are the five financial metrics you would choos to extract information about a company, describe how an LBO works and how value is created in LBOs....

Interview Questions

No real tricky questions, basi stuff that you should know for a PE interview

Sample Answer

Private Equity Internship Interview - Infrastructure

Anonymous interview candidate in London

Interviewed: February 2024

Date Submitted: Jun 08, 2024

Outcome

Declined Offer

Interview Source

College / University / On Campus Recruiting

Length of Process

1-2 months

Application

Phone Interview

1 on 1 Interview

Skills Test

Interview

1. Initial call with analyst
2. Technical nterview with analyst and IM
3. Modelling test
4 1to1 with 2 directors
5 final 1to1 meeting with MDs

All of them were pretty technical with tue last one more focused on the fit within the team
Need good knowledge on general PE and the specific team you are interviewing for
Modelling test can be challenging but totally doable with previous experience or with the help of online guides and material

Interview Questions

How the value of an infrastruction investment changes through its life considering a concession agreement

Sample Answer

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

Ardian