If you had $100mm to invest, what would you invest in? Market? Debt vs Equity? Product-Type?

This is a question commonly asked in interviews and would be helpful to this forum. Plus, it would be interesting to hear the opinions of the members of WSO.

50 Comments
 

I agree with that sentiment. Retail, as an entire product segment, seems to be dying as more and more retail is being brought online thanks to Amazon. To your point, restaurants and services (gyms, hair/nail salons, etc) cannot be sold online and thus will continue to have a physical presence.

With that said, in your current market, have you not seen a rapid price appreciation / cap-rate compression for assets of this nature? I'm in SoCal and high-credit dining tenants will NNN leases seem to be at all time lows in terms of cap rates.

 

I'd use 30-50% portfolio leverage and do some self-storage developments, buy some NNN retail with credit tenants, I'd buy a few multifamily ground leases, put some money into the highest rated REITs (e.g. Boston Properties, AvalonBay), and I'd acquire some Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs). I'd also set aside a few million for venture capital.

Basically, I'd have a totally different investment strategy with $100 million than I'd have with $5 million (i.e. I'd do more merchant builds, use higher leverage, and weight the portfolio toward residential).

Array
 
RevolutionOr bet the house shorting the Euro. After being over there for quite some time I've actually seen that monetary union collapsing. High unemployment, even higher prices for goods/services, economies that depend a good deal on tourism(which will dissipate soon). And who takes breaks(siestas) for hours during the middle of the day??

Shorting the EUR against what? A number of different currencies? Or how would you go about shorting it?

Personally, I'd use some money to buy land in certain parts of Asia I know well and then put the rest in a fixed deposit account earning 10% a year.

 

A large chunk of mine would go to some solid yielding international treasury bond.

As an example: 1000000 (dont actually out the whole thing) at 7.2% yield will give you 2,000,000 in 10 years. Average earning of 10% a year.

Touch to not take that in this climate.

 

Exactly the best thing to do is to find investment opportunities that will give you equity like returns with debt like risk. Sometimes it's better investing in the company's equity when the company looks very promising and is in a high growth phase. Other times when the company is mature but still has stable cash flow its better investing in the debt

 
"RepRex"

Exactly the best thing to do is to find investment opportunities that will give you equity like returns with debt like risk. Sometimes it's better investing in the company's equity when the company looks very promising and is in a high growth phase. Other times when the company is mature but still has stable cash flow its better investing in the debt

Um, this is a terrible characterization of investing. But I assume you're in high school, maybe college.

 
Seth DavisEquity. Bonds are in a bubble. Yields on debt are at all time lows. It is hard to see if there are any future gains to be had in any of the debt markets.

bond yields being at an all time low doesn't by itself imply they are in a bubble. If the economy proves as stagnant as some predict equities aren't going anywhere.

 

Though I think the bond market is overheated, there's also a generational shift going on right now as many boomers are retiring, pushing up the demand for fixed income.

Personally, I'd try and angel invest a few startups with partner status and/or maybe buy a nice-ish condo.

"Dude, not trying to be a dick here, but your shop looks like a frontrunner for the cover of Better Boilerrooms & Chophouses or Bucketshop Quarterly." -Uncle Eddie
 

bonds are not in a bubble...high yield bonds are at all time lows at 7 3/4.....you invest on how much risk you are willing to take...equities are very uncertain rite now and recovery is not occurring at a rapid pace....you should invest in something that really interest you and the rest invest in a high yield corporate bond if were speculating here

 

Go4It, you know that low bond yields mean bond PRICES are high, implying a bubble, right?

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

As Kenny said, when yields are low, prices are high. The yields on almost all debt classes and maturities is at all time lows, or in other words the prices on these bonds are at all time highs. While yields may stay low over the next 12-18 months it is unlikely these yields will stay low forever. Typically, when one invests in bonds, you expect yields to fall.

 

Aut sed magni perspiciatis. Repellendus quibusdam voluptatem aut amet. Facilis atque sed dolores sit illo sit a omnis.

Suscipit quos repudiandae sint labore voluptate laborum necessitatibus. Id repudiandae quidem quod sunt. Aliquam rerum ad repellat beatae. Nihil eos quia tenetur sapiente facilis fugit sit ut.

Inventore rerum enim illo voluptates dolor. Voluptatum quo et dolores qui laudantium exercitationem qui. Omnis asperiores neque nostrum cum perferendis. Velit officia ipsum quas non.

Doloribus necessitatibus fuga voluptas deleniti sequi. Odit quis qui asperiores eum corrupti fugit aut nulla. In qui sit est voluptatem. Sit aut adipisci aut odio. Omnis adipisci libero vel qui. Mollitia rerum laudantium officia unde optio id possimus. At tempore aliquam est sed fugiat officiis.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”