Davidson Kempner Capital Management Interview Questions (2024) - 5 Entries

Davidson Kempner Capital Management Interview Questions

6 total interview insight submissions

Interview Experience (93%)

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.

4.4

Very Negative
Negative
Neutral
Positive
Very Positive

Interview Difficulty (93%)

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.

3.4

Very Easy
Easy
Average
Difficult
Very Difficult

% Interns - FT Offers (2%)

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.

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Interviews at Davidson Kempner Capital Management

Get Prepared

Year

Job Title

Group/Division

Location

Experience

Difficulty

Intern

Year 2022

Job Title Intern

Group/Division N/A

Location London

Experience

Very Positive

Difficulty

Average

Intern

Year 2021

Job Title Intern

Group/Division N/A

Location New York

Experience

Very Positive

Difficulty

Difficult

Intern

Year 2021

Job Title Intern

Group/Division N/A

Location New York

Experience

Very Positive

Difficulty

Difficult

3rd+ Year Analyst

Year 2020

Job Title 3rd+ Year Analyst

Group/Division Leveraged Finance

Location New York

Experience

Positive

Difficulty

Difficult

2nd Year Associate

Year 2014

Job Title 2nd Year Associate

Group/Division Consumer - Retail

Location New York

Experience

Positive

Difficulty

Average

Summer Associate Intern

Year 2014

Job Title Summer Associate Intern

Group/Division Investment Research

Location New York

Experience

Positive

Difficulty

Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Davidson Kempner Capital Management Examples

Summer Analyst Interview

Anonymous employee in London

Interviewed: March 2022

Date Submitted: Jun 11, 2022

Outcome

Accepted Offer

Interview Source

Other

Length of Process

2-3 months

Application

Phone Interview

1 on 1 Interview

Drug Test

Interview

Fairly straightforward process, intro interview and then 2 stage process. Introductory with HR and then with an investment professional and MD about the core concepts and asking usual competency questions related to the world of finance and alternative investments. Technical skills are advantageous.

Interview Questions

Due to my background I wasn’t really poised with difficult questions about the markets. It was more of testing if I’d been actively keeping updated and doing my research as I did not study finance.

Sample Answer

intern Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Interviewed: October 2021

Date Submitted: Feb 22, 2022

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

College / University / On Campus Recruiting

Length of Process

1-2 months

Application

1 on 1 Interview

Group Interview

Presentation

Interview

coding OA -> HR -> team interview - > final interview with head of team.
There was a take home project. Hard

Interview Questions

Coding OA is hard

Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Leveraged Finance

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Interviewed: March 2020

Date Submitted: Aug 24, 2020

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

3-4 months

Application

Phone Interview

Presentation

Skills Test

Interview

Multiple interviews with the portfolio management team. From that point, there was a case study & presentation to the portfolio management team. After this round, there was a final round with the senior partner.

Interview Questions

Modeling test was most difficult

Sample Answer

Associate Interview - Consumer - Retail

Anonymous employee in New York

Interviewed: February 2014

Date Submitted: Mar 10, 2015

Outcome

Accepted Offer

Interview Source

Recruiter

Length of Process

1-2 months

Application

1 on 1 Interview

Presentation

Skills Test

Drug Test

Background Check

Interview

Interviewing consisted of a first round with a few investment professionals and a few members of HR. Questions here were fairly typical. Why are you interested? Walk me through you resume? Deal experience? They asked me for a pitch which I talked through and they used this to sort of test me on my financial knowledge versus just asking finance questions. Second round was more of the same but a bit more challenging. Met some more investment professionals and talked through some pitches. But there was also a "case study." I put that in quotes because it wasn't your standard 3hr study, it was more they give you a research report on a company, some industry information and you take 30-45 minutes digesting it and then you come back and have a conversation about it. 3rd round I was given a take home case study and had a week to prepare it. Came back and met some more investment professionals, including some senior partners and then i had to present the pitch to 4-5 people. Last "round" was an informal drinks with some investment professionals and HR.

Interview Questions

There weren't difficult questions at least not anything out of the ordinary. Interview consisted of standard finance questions and ability to articulate investment ideas and theses. This is very important as this is the job.

Sample Answer

Summer Analyst Interview - Investment Research

Anonymous interview candidate in New York

Interviewed: January 2014

Date Submitted: Feb 28, 2014

Outcome

No Offer

Interview Source

College / University / On Campus Recruiting

Length of Process

Less than 1 month

Application

1 on 1 Interview

Interview

I submitted my resume and cover letter via the standard on-campus recruiting process at my school ("top 5" Ivy League business school), and received an invitation from an HR associate at the firm. This interview was for a Summer Analyst position (between my 1st and 2nd year of B school) for a newly launched $500MM AUM L/S equity carve-out within the Davidson Kempner umbrella (which itself has roughly $20bn AUM. I know that six total people at my business school received an invite, and they also recruited at two other top business schools (my interviewer shared this with me), so I assumed ~18-20 total candidates for one spot.

I met with one person for 40 minutes. He was a senior analyst and was Wharton MBA, '08 I believe. The interview generally consisted of him asking me:
* Questions about my stock pitch. Why it was a good buy, what kind of research I did to identify the company, etc.
* I have a quant hedge fund background, so he wanted to know if I thought any of my skills were transferable to a fundamental L/S shop, and how specifically they were transferable.
* How I thought about investing generally.
* What I like to do outside of work.
* Where else I am recruiting.

That was basically it. A bulk of the conversation surrounded my stock pitch. I had to submit a few ideas verbally before he heard one he actually wanted to discuss. He was very smart but a bit arrogant. That's about it. Did not receive second round.

Interview Questions

Do you think any of your skills from quantitative finance are translatable to our fund?

"Absolutely. Even though mechanically speaking my day-to-day was a bit different than what I would anticipate at Davidson Kempner, it's all basically the same. My mandate was to identify ways to increase the value of our portfolios on a risk-adjusted basis, and I expect it is the same at DK."

I'm actually short the stock you are pitching to me. Explain to me why I should be long.

My response was too long to fully articulate in this box. Suffice it to say, though, that anytime you recommend a hedge fund manager buy a stock, you better have a ton of research supporting your thesis and be able to articulate and defend your position in a very coherent and even-keeled way. Definitely focus on unit economics in your pitch research, they love that stuff.

Sample Answer