Threadneedle Investment Interview Questions

4 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (70%)

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 (82%)

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.

3.3
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult
% Interns - FT Offers (53%)

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.

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

Interviews at Threadneedle Investment

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Filter by:
Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
Research Analyst
Year 2015
Job Title Research Analyst
Group/Division Equity Research
Location New York
Experience
Neutral
Difficulty
Difficult
Investment Analyst
Year 2014
Job Title Investment Analyst
Group/Division Investments
Location London
Experience
Negative
Difficulty
Easy
1st Year Analyst
Year 2011
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Equities
Location London
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Average
Intern
Year 2013
Job Title Intern
Group/Division Generalist
Location Singapore
Experience
Very Positive
Difficulty
Difficult

Interview Questions & Answers - Threadneedle Investment Examples

Analyst Interview - Equity Research

Anonymous interview candidate in New York
Interviewed: December 2015
Date Submitted: Mar 15, 2016
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Interview
I had two phone interviews with people in Boston. One on one interviews with 2 people in the New York office.
Interview Questions
Four people need to cross a rickety rope bridge to get back to their camp at night. Unfortunately, they only have one flashlight and it only has enough light left for seventeen minutes. The bridge is too dangerous to cross without a flashlight, and it’s only strong enough to support two people at any given time.

Each of the campers walks at a different speed. One can cross the bridge in 1 minute, another in 2 minutes, the third in 5 minutes, and the slow poke takes 10 minutes to cross. How do the campers make it across in 17 minutes?
Sample Answer

1 year entry-level scheme with Investments team. Interview - Investments

Anonymous interview candidate in London
Interviewed: July 2014
Date Submitted: Aug 14, 2014
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
2-3 months
Application
Phone Interview
1 on 1 Interview
Group Interview
Skills Test
Interview
Applied Online, Resume + Cover Letter with answer to 3 questions.
6 weeks pass...
15 min Phone Interview with HR: Fit, Company Values, Why this scheme, why this position....
2 weeks....
Invite to assessment centre. Give two dates, pick one.
Assessment centre: They were late, then go into room with all of HR (5 people I think) company presentation, someone from the scheme last year talks for a while, then split into two groups. Group 1 goes downstairs. I had 1 person from compliance (wtf) and one from Investments, no real technical stuff. Back upstairs for a group exercise.
They say will contact after 2 weeks, that goes by so I reach out. They are at the final stage, will have decided this week. 2 week go by, reach out again. They are at the final stage (again!), they will come back to me. 3 Weeks go by, I have decided fuck this company but write to say is there a response anyway....
and...No offer, they were looking for people who 'consistently aligned with our's values throughout the process'. Which seem's like BS, they lost 2 or 3 fund managers to another firm recently so not sure if they will even take people on now. If HR/ hiring is measure of the firm overall, not too surprised they left. One actually quoted 'inefficient bureaucracy' in his FT interview. They had 4 positions, only one in investments (make sure to say you only want to work in that division) and 600 applications for the sports, they told us this repeatedly.
Interview Questions
Literally all fit. The most technical it got was, Can you use Excel? What is VLOOKUP how do you create Pivot Tables, write macros etc.
Asked a lot about experiences on Resume, have your story down - especially craft it to fit their values.
Practice bs questions like 'if you disagreed with a senior member of staff, how would you address the situation'.
Discussed a few positions I currently have, current multiples etc. ( tried to pick ones which aligned with how they invest)
Sample Answer

Long/short analyst Interview - Equities

Anonymous employee in London
Interviewed: 2011
Date Submitted: May 27, 2013
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Background Check
Interview
First round interview consisted of a basic HR interview covering competencies such as teamwork etc.
Second round interview was with a leading portfolio manager. This focused on investment ability, economic knowledge, investment philosophy and career aspirations.
Third round interview was a super-day with 6 PMs, covering investment knowledge. Shorting skill was particularly investigated, including catalyst knowledge. Valuation skills equally important.
Final round was a stock pitch on a stock of choice, long or short. A significant indepth report was required, in addition to a powerpoint presentation.
Interview Questions
If company A and company B are growing at 5% top line, but company A has -5% volumes and +5% price mix/ and company B has 0% volumes and +10% price mix, which one is growing faster at EBIT/ EPS level? Assume no efficiencies of scale from manufacturing.
The answer is company A, because operating leverage is higher.
If a multinational has a number of listed global subsidiaries and imposes a royalty on those subsidiaries, what is the effect on EBIT, CFO and net income if the royalty is increased?
The answer is that net income increases, EBIT and CFO stay the same. This is because minority interest is reduced by the royalty hike, affecting net income but neither of the other lines. A tough question to answer when thinking on the spot!
Sample Answer

Summer Intern Interview - Generalist

Anonymous interview candidate in
Interviewed: March 2013
Date Submitted: Apr 07, 2013
Outcome
No Offer
Interview Source
College / University / On Campus Recruiting
Length of Process
Less than 1 month
Application
Phone Interview
Interview
The firm came to my school to do a presentation on investments / giving an information session and it happen to look for summer interns as well. It only looks to hire 2~3 interns for the summer and they will be either from Singapore Management University or London Cass Business School. 1 of the slots will be held for the winner of the competition of an essay writing competition which is held by the company on the topic of wealth management. I was contacted by the secretary of the interviewer about 1~2 months after my resume drop to arrange for the actual interview which was 1 week later. I had asked for an unpaid internship but was given an actual interview instead. The interviewer I had was very experienced in the finance fields and asked questions based on my interest (investment banking) and discussed about it, together with some fit questions. The interview wasn't great at the start as it seems to me that I had irritated the interviewer when I expressed my interest in investment banking, which is different from asset management. However, things picked up halfway through the interview and went quite well when I started asking him more questions. However, I did not get the offer as they have other candidates as well (juniors/seniors) which they can recruit and convert it into a full-time. In overall, both the interviewer and I spoke a lot. It was a great experience and it lasted 35 mins.
Interview Questions
What is investment banking and what do they do?

Talk about the different groups e.g M&A vs industrial groups e.g healthcare, energy, defense.
"I am not sure whether the skill sets you will learn here will be relevant to investment banking. Do you know what is private equity and why investment banking over private equity?"

I told him that I was not certain and he explained the details to me.
Have you heard of Warren Buffet and what is your opinion on him?

I told him that he is a top investor and he disliked investment bankers as they charge too high a fee. The interviewer told me about how warren buffet only liked a specific investment banker from goldman sachs and he felt the rest of the investment bankers are "parasites"
Also, what is the name of his (Warren Buffet) firm?

Berkshire Hathaway
What are my opinions on finance since it is overcrowded.

The interviewer talked with me about MBA and how finance companies paid the most amount for the best talents. He cited an article in the economist which talks about how the industry will face a downtime soon when there is overcrowding. I rebutted his comments by suggesting that it is less likely for the finance industry to collapse especially when you got the best talents.
Sample Answer