Fixed Income AM SA interview

Hey folks,

I have a fixed income SA phone interview with a top-5 AM (think Fidelity, PIMCO, BlackRock, etc.) coming up soon.

My question is how would I go about impressing the interviewer with some knowledge which isn't expected of me? If it were an equity interview, I'd pitch a few good stocks, but bonds (beyond the basics) are somewhat of a terra incognita for me.

It's also important to find the right balance: I could mention some difficult concept and get grilled, because the interviewer knows 10x more than I do.

Any personal experience of being an interviewer/interviewee is more than welcome.

Thanks!

tl;dr How do I stand out in a FI AM interview?

4 Comments
 
Most Helpful

As someone who works in FI AM, I can say that you won't be expected to "pitch bonds". What the interviewer is going to care much more about is you knowing/or at least being interested in having the bond math down cold. Be able to explain duration, convexity, OAS/OAD clearly and concisely I think would give you a big leg up. Also being able to understand the implications of different yield curve shapes on bond pricing and the above concepts.

 

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