Payden and Rygel Interview Questions

9 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (89%)

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 (92%)

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.

3.1
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult

Interviews at Payden and Rygel

Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2021
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Easy
Investment Analyst
Year 2019
Job Title Investment Analyst
Group/Division N/A
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Analyst
Year 2019
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Generalist
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2017
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investments
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
Student / Prospective Monkey
Year 2017
Job Title Student / Prospective Monkey
Group/Division Generalist
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2016
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Asset Management
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2014
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Fixed Income
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Difficult
1st Year Associate
Year 2012
Job Title 1st Year Associate
Group/Division Debt Capital Markets
Location Los Angeles
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average
1st Year Analyst
Year 2013
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division
Location Boston
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Payden and Rygel Examples

Summer Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous employee in Los Angeles
Interviewed: February 2021
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Staffing Agency
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
2 rounds. First interview was 30 minutes and mostly a "Walk me through your resume". Coming up on my second and final round, which is 3 back-tp-back 30 minute behavioral interview. Will update after that!
Interview Questions
What do you think about L.A.?

Investment Analyst Interview

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: November 2019
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Applied via my school’s recruiting portal. First round Zoom interview with a senior employee. Consisted of background questions. Second round group interview with background and some fit questions. They are known for their verbal math tests. Questions get progressively harder, it’s more important to have a logical progression than getting the right answer.
Interview Questions
Math questions.

Analyst Interview - Generalist

Anonymous employee in Los Angeles
Interviewed: November 2019
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
IQ / Intelligence Test
Background Check
Interview
Process began with an on campus hiring interview. Then went to online skype interview. finally went to superday
Interview Questions
Lots of mental math. I was not expecting to do problems like how many times does 7 go into 185 which through me for a loop. There were also ample questions about what if situations. What if you were trying to place a trade with no seniors around you what would you do if it failed. Also what if the trade ended up making money? What would you do then? The interview tried to put you on the spot. There was also very long amount of the interview dedicated towards fit and getting to know you beyond your own background.

Investment analyst Interview - Investments

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: September 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
Math oriented questions at the end, dinner the night before. Very nice people when we went out but seemed to do a bad cop good cop thing in interview that threw me off a little
Interview Questions
Walk me through your resume (they will dive deep into each one so obviously don’t over exaggerate on your resume)
Walk me through how you value a company? How would Benjamin graham or warren buffet think about your methodology?
Say the fed increases rates tomorrow, what effect does that have on the economy and specifically fixed income?
Since you mainly have equity valuation background, why do you want to go into the fixed income market? (Talk about how it is more tangible and it is a huge market larger than equities)
What is the square root of .91

Analyst - Grad Program Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: November 2017
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Other
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I had a 1 on 1 phone interview with a PM. The interview was relatively easy and consisted of basic economic/market questions as well as a mental math test. They did not ask too many fit based questions and seemed to care more about what your thought process was when calculating verbal math questions.
Interview Questions
The most difficult interview questions asked was currency rates and understanding how to hedge options. I haven't taken a financial derivatives course in a while so I definitely should have reviewed some of the technical questions asked. The mental math test wasn't too difficult but you had to explain your whole thought process and it was a bit nerve wrecking because no one really expected a verbal math test. Overall, the interview went pretty well and I'm glad that I went through this experience so I can be better prepared next time.

Investment Analyst Interview - Asset Management

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: August 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Interview
First- Very easy behavioral questions, mathematical questions
Second- walk me through your resume, make sure your resume highlights your skills and gives you enough to talk about
Why Payden and Rygel? Why Fixed Income? Favorite/worst class and why?
Interview Questions
Subjective interview but
1. Tell me about yourself- this is how they start the interview and they don't give you any guidelines so make sure you have your 2-3 minute pitch ready.
2. Tell me what you do in your student investment fund at school?
3. Do you think you can beat the index? What skills have you learned about investing in school?
4. Tell me about the projects you are doing in one of your finance classes.
5. Why are you interested in Fixed Income versus equity investing opportunities?
Overall just practice interviewing!

Fixed Income Analyst Interview - Fixed Income

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: November 2014
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
IQ / Intelligence Test
Interview
Applied through career center, received an interview call up a week later. Attended the company presentation as well and got a feel for the firm. No real networking involved but the interviewer did preach its importance.
Interview Questions
Straightforward Qs except mental math.
Be prepared for 10 mental math questions and walk the interviewer through your thought process.

What is your market outlook for Treasurys this year?
-Mention macro factors, FOMC etc

How did you achieve xx returns with your club fund?

Less about the answer but more your thought process. For instance, I described my screening criteria for sovereign bonds and how I constructed a portfolio..
-

Muni Trading Interview - Debt Capital Markets

Anonymous interview candidate in Los Angeles
Interviewed: June 2012
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Personality Test
Interview
I got picked up on a recruiters radar and was told about this position. After a brief call with her, I interviewed with the VP on the desk and he went through an hour call. He asked me many questions, both technical and personal. Several days later, I got the nod to come into the office and interview with a VP as well as the PM. The PM put me through a math test and a personality test as well.
Interview Questions
They asked CFA level 1 questions on the test. Nothing was too hard. The only one I missed was a question regarding attribution.

Client Service Analyst Interview -

Anonymous interview candidate in Boston
Interviewed: March 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
I saw their ads on a recruiting site and applied. The hiring principal reached out to me personally and asked me a question about my favorite mystery (included in the hobby section of my resume). I replied back and we schedule a phone interview. It lasted 30 minutes and I got a rejection letter 10 days later.
Interview Questions
An institutional investor is worried about risk in his US bond portfolio in the current environment. As a relationship manager, what would you like to tell him? He clearly expected the answer to be very structured and comprehensive.
Is there an index/how to calculate prepayment risk for mortgages? He asked probably because it's in CFA level II, which I passed. But sadly I didn't remember the answer.