Interview question- Suppose I give you $10,000 USD. How will you invest it?

Or some variation of this question. What are the follow up questions I should ask (eg: expected return, time horizon)

And were I to answer this in October of 2017, what could be a good answer structure?

 

I assume that this would apply to whatever position you are applying for e.g. Real estate, trading, investment banking. Pick of a company security or property. Apply the appropriate valuation/logic to it. Provide a solid rational behind your decision. I would throw in some thoughts on why this "pick" makes sense considering the capital you started with, opportunity costs etc. Hope that helps somewhat.

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and i am no quite sure that i know that.” Socrates
 
Best Response

In my buy-side equity analyst interview I just said I'd put it on a market index and then talked about why that's the best option for my personal circumstances in terms of risk and so forth. It worked for me.

A friend of mine in an IB M&A interview asked back for details on the hypothetical client he's advising and then recommended a breakdown of portfolio allocation (cash, small cap equity....) by percentage for the kind of risk the client would want. Obviously this is kinda redundant for 100,000 but the answer showed thought/smarts.

I guess you could also just turn it into a stock pitch by running through one of your stock picks you are confident to talk about and answer questions on. Just make sure it is one thats likely to outperform the market otherwise thats a better option for your 100k.

This question, I found in my experience anyway, isn't crucial it's just a way of getting you to show you can think.

 

Nikkei futures with mucho leverage (get wiped out if Nikkei drops 25%)

Japanese authorities are doing anything possible to devalue the Yen... don't f*ck with Japanese macroeconomics. If Japan even hints at inflation then the equities markets will explode. All of the country's savers will reallocate some of their assets from debt into equities. HFs have been shorting Japan and will get squeezed. Also, and more importantly, the Japanese are an extremely herding culture... will will rush to get in at higher prices.

 
mb666:
Nikkei futures with mucho leverage (get wiped out if Nikkei drops 25%)

Japanese authorities are doing anything possible to devalue the Yen... don't f*ck with Japanese macroeconomics. If Japan even hints at inflation then the equities markets will explode. All of the country's savers will reallocate some of their assets from debt into equities. HFs have been shorting Japan and will get squeezed. Also, and more importantly, the Japanese are an extremely herding culture... will will rush to get in at higher prices.

yea and then convert your Y back into $ and have what left?

 

Hookers, blow, and black jack

Long USD/JPY: I've had this position since $80. When the Bank of Japan came out and basically told everyone that it had a target of 2% inflation, or $100, and it wouldn't stop depreciating the Yen until it was accomplished IDK what else you need.

On a side note, when I originally initiated the position and set my stop loss it came 5 pips from being triggered due to an instant -70 pip movement before instantly bouncing back to what I bought in at. I guess some institution or government was closing out a really large position.

 

10 keys of Bolivian snow = $40,000 Mule to bring it in = $10,000

Total = $50,000

Street Value of 10 keys in SoCal ~ $15,000 a key = $150,000 total Total Revenue (with 10% uncollectable) = $135,000

Return = 170%

"Come at me, bro"- José de Palafox y Melci
 

Vi, let me second your thoughts there. I myself am sitting on 10,000,000 JPY earned at my Japanese brokerage firm. This was well over $120k just six months ago and is rapidly drifting down toward $100k. Would buy the Nikkei if I could -- but I'm not permitted to make trades, and we employees are forbidden to open accounts with any other firm. Not fun watching a slow-motion demolition of your nest egg.

 
ct banker:
I would use it as a downpayment on an investment property down in Florida, should make a killing in 5 years on the right property

Real estate started deviating from its long-term trendline in the late 1980s... We were in a 25-year exponential rise and it has only been 5 years since the bubble burst. I believe that the correction has another leg down.Even now the Case-Shiller metric is still above it's historical average.

What will happen to real estate when interest rates rise and people begin purchasing less homes? We're flush with credit so what will happen when liquidty dries up? RE, historically, is quite a mediocre investment... it basically tracks inflation. It just happens that RE exploded in our recent memory since WWII when the U.S. became the lone superpower of the world... our economy had unprecedented growth which I doubt is sustainable at the same real rate in this century.Only in emerging markets or extremely depressed conditions (think NYC in the 1970s) do people make a killing buying up properties. This strategy is akin to being the lucky speculator in any mania, albeit RE, or land, has "real" value.

Also, I was in West Palm a month ago. Home prices are not cheap whatsoever in the middle & upper class areas. I'm not a RE expert but I didn't see any bargains. And considering the state of the economy and the shrinking middle class I just can't foresee how the wealthier individuals will absorb the vast supply in the US market. Population demographics aren't great either and would be negative if it wasn't for the immigration from Latin America.

Just my 2 cents.

 

^ Renting would justify purchasing depressed properties as long as maintenance doesn't consume too much of the income. I was talking more from a capital appreciation perspective... I hear people discussing how properties are down 35% in Miami and how the market is now a "bargain" and yet these people fail to see that the same property has increased ~400% in real terms since 1990, and that the recent correction still doesn't provide an attractive discount.

Real estate is a good inflation hedge. Personally I wouldn't mind owning hundreds of acres of land in Montana. The US coasts are so densely populated that any demographic shifts will likely be towards inland... and demographics are the #1 driver in the real estate market if observed over decades. Unfortunately we have a liquidity drunk Fed that is boosting prices across all asset classes.

 

My thoughts was also to purchase properties. not for the potential appreciation (or depreciation) but for the cash flow. if a property can generate cash after paying expenses and debt service, what more could you want? what investment ideas are better than that?

 

Hi Halloumi, check out these links:

No promises, but thought I'd mention a few relevant users that work in the industry: firebi234 bankerella2 hockeyguy6

I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

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