Lunch with investment banker

if you ask that question he'll simply pick you up and put you on his salad for lunch. why the fuck would you ask a senior exec that let alone an analyst? listen to me. Just be cool. do you think trying to impress him with "hey I learned how to unlever and relever betas" will win him over? no. because when he asks you to do a debt pay down you'll do surprised Pikachu face. ask him about his hobbies, how he got into banking, and anything that will let him talk for as long as possible. then relate it to shit you're interested in. also don't ask about his family. made that mistake at great cost

Just don't ask him any questions you could answer with a Google search. So def no technicals. Ask him/her personal qs or qs having to do alot with opinion so you get a sense of what type of person they are. 

- Why that group?

- Why IB? 

- How does he/she measure success in an analyst? 

- What direction is the bank heading in in their opinion. Any major changes? 

- Fav thing about IB

- Best way to deal with negative feedback

It's very important to frame some of these qs with "in your opinion". This makes it clear that you're not looking for the right answer but for an answer from a dependable person. 

I would stay away from technicals as well. Maybe ask him/her about a deal that was particularly complicated or difficult to get done and how they got it through the finish line. Folks love talking about their accomplishments. 

You should talk to the guy about your interests and try to connect on things outside of his work. This is 100 times more useful for you if you want to create a lasting connection that can help you in the future. Additionally, you should focus on questions about his career: why he's doing what he's doing and why he made the choices he did. Also these guys usually love giving advice, even just general life advice. Just do not ask about cost of capital

Delete

Completely agree with everyone saying don’t ask technicals, you’ll seem like a complete hardo.

If you want to do soemthing about more technical, I think asking about markets is always interesting and people enjoy answering - also let’s you show a little knowledge if you ask an intelligent question. “What are you seeing in the tech M&A market given multiple contraction of SaaS companies?” “How is X bank thinking about deal flow in the coming years” etc

You going to a nice restaurant or sbarro in Times Square

If this is a senior person, just ask questions about his/her experience and draw conversation based on that. These folks love talking about their "war stories" and about pastimes rather than talking about cost of capital etc. Guarantee if you bring that up you will be ghosted after. Just try and draw personal similarities in your convo and don't come across as yet another robotic incoming finance student. They know you'll be tested on the technical stuff with their junior folk.. it's not really their interest or prerogative to assess you on that 

hanospalk

I have the opportunity to meet with an executive at a large investment bank in New York (through my university, set up as a q and a session designed to allow student to ask questions) and I am drawing a blank with regards to what questions I should ask. I am fearful that what I ask will be something he/she thinks I should already know. For example, https://vidmate.onl/ I wanted to ask how an investment bank determines the cost of capital when valuing a company. Would this be appropriate?

Any suggestions on the types of questions I should be asking?

I got this,..

Just try to make friends with him. In my best networking call, I just talked about hockey with an associate. He liked our conversation, and when he ended up interviewing me, we casually chatted about the market and thoughts on investments. Then, he asked me the mandatory technicals, and … more on hockey. That’s how I got my job.

Trust me, we’d rather talk to someone we find fun to talk to than someone who knows their technicals well. Incoming analysts aren’t hired for what they’re memorized, they’re hired for what we think they can add once they’re trained.

thanks