Wells Fargo FAP interview
I have an interview with Wells Fargo for their Financial Analyst Program and I have been unable to find any inside info on the web. Anyone taken these series of interviews and have anything to share? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
how did the process go for you? where and what department are you interviewing with?
I have applied to the corporate banking department and the commercial real estate department. They are located in CA and FL respectively. The first interview was pretty straight forward but I am curious as to what to expect next
How did the interviews go? I have applied to the Commecial Real Estate Department and I have an interview coming up. They told me that it would be behavioral and technical based questions. Do you have any suggestions on what to study for or know?
I did WF interview for a summer internship for IBCM last spring. They asked me basic behavioral questions; tell me about yourself related stuff. Then the asked me (1) What are the three financial statements? (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow statements. (2) How do you determine the value of a company? Take their future earnings and do a discount cash flow... and I don't remember the third question. I got them all right though. NOTE: JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AND DON'T GO INTO DETAIL AT ALL. IF YOU TRY TO DO THAT, THEY'RE GOING TO SAY "OH, THIS KID THINKS HE'S SMARTER THAN ME. LET ME DRILL HIM WITH A TON OF FINANCIAL QUESTIONS." THEN YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK STUPID. JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AND MOVE ON.
I have an interview with WF this tuesday, but this time for a full time position. My boy works there and he said that it's a great company to get into and their pay is competitive with other BB. I don't think he's bs me.
siily boys
I had an interview with them last year for the FAP program. They ask the typical walk me through your resume. The technicals were walk through an income statement. How do you evaluate credit, what ratio's to use from the IS, BS, and CF. Standard finance stuff should be pretty easy
Any new info on the interview process?
Bump as well. Have an interview for commercial real estate analyst position in a few weeks.
I went through the interview process with WF for WBR (wealth brokerage and retirement) so I don't know how much of a help it would be for you, but in my case (BO-MO, not FO) the interviews were a joke. But then again, the group itself was kind of a joke so it probably isn't going to be the same for you.
Wells Fargo FAP interview help (Originally Posted: 05/17/2012)
Hi all, iv been a regular reader of this forum for months now, but never joined or posted anything. Here's my first..and i need all the help and advise from anyone who knows about this program.
I have an in-person interview at Wells Fargo for the FAP program in Global banking next week...i would like to know what type of questions should i expect at the interview and what my approach should be for this interview. if there is anyone in particular that has been through the interview process for the FAP program or works at wells fargo that could give me some pointers of what to expect. I am a recent grad from a non target..and plan on gettin my CPA. Also, what are the exit opportunities after a couple of years through this program. I would eventually like to work in PE in the MENA region (I was born and raised there). all help is sincerely appreciated. I have learned so much from this forum and fellow monkeys, I trust you guys more than others lol.
they seriously named it FAP program?
yea its called the "Financial Analyst Trainee Program"
Are you in the Sigma Mu Delta (SMD) fraternity as well?
hahaha, why isn't it FATP? FAP? Seriously?
He's not joking, hahahahahaha
https://www.wellsfargo.com/downloads/pdf/careers/College_job_descriptio…
Back when I interviewed, it was 50/50 accounting technicals/"why" questions.
"Why did you pick your school, why wells, why this group, why should I pick you over all the other interviewees" are the 4 that stand out in my mind.
Im not 100% sure, but I believe Global Banking is a branch of the commercial bank. You should know what cashflow is, how to calculate it, what makes a good candidate for a loan, what the "best" industries/business models are to lend to, and what line items on the statements are important to look at for a loan (i'd know at least 5 and why they matter).
I have only met one dude in global banking, and he lives/works in china. Its probably a decent opportunity if you want to work abroad - but I cannot honestly say I have any idea about what they do. On the bright side, you can expect good hours.
Finally, you need to rethink the path you have set for yourself. If you get a CPA, you will likely lock yourself out of PE. Also, Im fairly sure you need accounting experience to get a CPA certification, which this job will not provide you with. If you ever mention CPA and PE in the same paragraph again, you will most likely get laughed out of whatever room you were in.
I came from a similar/worse situation than you. My advice is: get a finance-related job, and spend your downtime researching. It will take you at least a year to understand what your options are.
I don't mind being laughed at...everyone has to start some where. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. THANKS!
According to Wells Fargo this is what Global Banking does: "Global Banking provides financial services to companies engaged in international commerce, including middle-market multinational companies, large corporations, and foreign-owned businesses. "
I do plan on working abroad, and agree with you on doing research and figuring out options with time. Also, my main concern is gaining adequate skills that I can utilize throughout my career. I live in run down Detroit city and I certainly think relocating for an opportunity like this will open lots of options for me and provide growth.
I have a BBA- from Mich Dearborn (Accounting major), I have been advised by my IB cousin who worked for a BB to not be obsessed with the idea of 'banking'. Rather follow the CPA route and develop skills necessary to run/understand businesses. And later do an MBA if I want. I still think the CPA would provide me with career security that I have a hard time living without.
I do love the idea of PE, and have some entrepreneurial experience of 'flipping' residential properties as a college student. But it is a distant dream and something that I could see myself do later in life (8-10 years down the road)
Original poster, did you end up interviewing for this position/ any updates?
Wells Fargo Capital Finance FAP (Originally Posted: 12/04/2015)
Hi all,
I have a phone interview with a Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Capital Finance Monday morning for the Financial Analyst Program. The SVP manages one of three portfolio teams, but I have not been able to find out which one exactly through research. The website states "We offer traditional asset-based lending, specialized junior and senior secured financing, factoring, and financing for domestic and international trade to a wide range of companies throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K."
I am currently pursuing a career in CRE with the goal of going to a large developer or PE shop in the coming years. I have a offer with a development shop starting in January.
Two questions: 1) Does anyone have insight as to what this group does and how it would differ from their commercial/corporate banking division? 2) What is the likelyhood of a position like this being transferable to a career in CRE?
Thank you in advance.
Wells Capital Finance has a specific CRE group that operates in most major markets (I interviewed with one office a couple of years ago). They do some corporate level lending (REIT financing) but mostly project based debt for single assets or small portfolios. I've seen a few guys move from this group in Boston/NYC to BB real estate finance / investment banking, and one guy move from the LA office to a developer. Seems like a solid start, but I can't really speak to the circumstance if you're not in the CRE group. If you have an offer with a developer and you want to be in development, maybe that's the answer.
Shot at WF Financial Analyst Position, any help greatly appreciated. (Originally Posted: 06/30/2015)
I have been lurking for months on end now trying to absorb any and all information, so thank you in advance for any of your help.
Background: 22, graduated last year with a degree in Economics with a minor in Accounting from a non-target UC. Only real financial/real estate experience has been in residential mortgages. Basic understanding of Excel (I can build out a chart, tables, functions, but no formal financial modeling skills). Recently downloaded Argus but have no real experience in it.
I am currently doing Residential Mortgages with Wells Fargo on the retail side.
In light of how non-intellectually stimulating and small scale Residential is, I've decided to pursue CRE. Recently started heavily networking to get my foot into an entry level CRE analyst position, and I might have found my break in WF's Financial Analyst Position (FAP). After networking non-stop, I had a phone call yesterday morning with someone that completed the 3 year FAP program, took the advanced credit training in SF, was an RM for 6 years, and is now the Vice President/Regional Program Manager for the Financial Analyst Program.
This individual put me in touch with a current analyst so I could get their perspective on the position. Current analyst said that I probably have more background in Real Estate than most of the new hires, and that they value enthusiasm, interest, and basic financial/RE skills. VP/Regional Program Manager said that the office local to me was looking to open up a position for FAP, but were afraid they wouldn't get qualified applicants at this time and were going to hold off until December. She believes that if I'm a good fit, they'd most likely hire someone now than wait till December.
She offered to forward my resume over to them on my behalf, so I am somewhat in a crunch. I have the funds available and am looking for the best "bang for my buck" and time efficient course for not only CRE lingo/knowhow, but also information on the financial statements/valuation/etc. My school's accounting minor was lackluster to say the least, so some of that information has slipped my mind.
I have already sent her a small personal gift relating to our phone call, and am hoping to tailor my resume within the next week to forward over to her.
With that being said, what is my best option in terms of a "crash course" in the basics of CRE?
TL;DR- doing Residential Mortgages with Wells Fargo, networked my way into the Financial Analyst Program, resume will be forwarded to local RM, need advice on best "crash course" for CRE lingo, excel modeling, etc.
I have no idea about a crash course but I studied Econ/RE and can give you a start, at least, on what to brush up on.
Hopefully someone else can add what you need on the job (I ended up going the MSF route), but it's probably good to know about different types of leases (NNN/NN/N vs gross vs etc) and why they're different. You should also know the three types of valuation: sales comps, cost, and income. Each is different and if you can know when you would use each lease, you'll likely be way ahead of the crowd.
If you want really bare bones type stuff, Real Estate Principles by Linger and Archer was a good textbook. Goes over a lot of basics that you can skip over like RE contracts, ground/mineral rights, etc that you've likely learned already. There's some stuff about basic valuation but nothing too extensive.
RE Investments by Brueggeman was a good book to learn about different RE investments and aspects such as CF waterfalls and even simple REIT valuation.
I'd recommend the second book if you want to learn more about the financials and valuation. If you want a refresher on IRR decision-making and the like, then the first book is worth getting as well. It explains everything I talked about in the first paragraph and a lot more.
None of the basic stuff is really complicated so you shouldn't have too much trouble just googling what you want to know. You might try pulling up the table of contents on like Amazon or something and brushing up on whatever you want to know.
BTOWN, thank you for your input.
I recently connected with a graduate of USC's MRED program and he recommended Real Estate Finance and Investments by William Brueggman and Jeffrey Fisher, is that the book you were referring too? www. Amazon. com/Real-Estate-Finance-Investments/dp/0073377333 (separated due to lack of posts)
Based on my research it seems most of the questions online have to do with the FAP program in regards to every Line of Business except for Real Estate. I'm assuming the questions they would ask me are how to identify a developing area, what to look for in a commercial structure, allocating debt/equity, etc. Forgive me if I'm not using these terms correctly and I'm still learning as I go.
Yep, that's the one. Great book.
You're doing fine. Development isn't my forte but here goes. I'd identify an area based on increasing rent prices and lots of acquisitions of land/property. The problem is that RE transactions aren't anywhere near public like M&A so the inefficiency of information is a big issue.
RE assets are typically at 60-80% debt, more than that and the LTV gets a little crazy and less wouldn't be putting the equity to good use unless you get a great interest rate and even then it's probably not good enough. Pretty much every pro-forma I've done in case studies and in an internship was between 70-80% LTV.
You'll have elaborate on the commercial structure part, I keep thinking structure of MBS/CMBS and REITs and I don't think that's what you're looking for.
I managed to get a copy last night so I'll get started on that ASAP.
I believe the position and questions will be based more on credit lending and risk. Things like linking financial statements and property performance in regards to extending credit to clients/developers that our RM's would be working with.
Either way I'm looking to generally increase my CRE knowledge along with Excel/Argus. I was thinking maybe one of those online courses in Excel would be my best bet. If you know of any I'm all ears.
If money doesn't matter go to ULI and buy the basic financial modeling package by Roger Stagger. It should be a Harvard Case Study with 4 sections and 4 models. It will teach you how to build a cash flow, debt sheets, and general valuation table. It also goes over major terms you should know like: NPV, IRR, NOI, cash on cash, hard costs, soft costs, DSCR, LTV..... Or you could just research all those terms.
Couldn't find that financial modeling package on ULI's website, but I did find what looks like a physical book on Amazon. I'm just wondering if it includes the Case Studies and such. I'll look further into it.
It is essentially a program that teaches underwriting and credit lending. It is supposed to be a pathway to Relationship Manager (that is if they choose you for CMTS).
My concern is mainly my main technical skills, as my universities accounting program was weak. I want to brush up on it, so I'm trying to find the most time/cost effective way of doing so.
I appreciate the input!
Wait - so this is a lending position? I think you would be underwriting mortgages, in a nut shell. Every real estate project needs a construction loan, which is then refinanced by a perm loan. To make those loans, you need to value the property by looking at its cash flows, which come from leases. You then have a cap rate in mind based off market research which should give you a sale price or value (just look this stuff up on investopedia or something).
With that value, you look to see if Wells would issue a loan at like, 70-80% of the value. The bank will want the income from the leases (cash flows) to be at least 1.2x the debt service. You could talk about risks too, like rents increasing or not meeting projections, occupancy (tenants moving in, moving out), expenses being too high because the roof caved in from snow... stuff like that.
I would spin all of this as "yeah I know about all of this stuff because I find it super interesting and did a ton of independent research, and I believe this is how all these things are related, but know I would have a ton to learn which is why I'm excited for this opportunity within a program at the biggest RE lender Wells Fargo, blah blah...
Oh also, research "sizing a commercial mortgage" or "sizing CRE debt." Wells Fargo probably has an interest rate, say 3%, adds maybe LIBOR, then adds like 1% cushion lets say. So the mortgage interest rate is now 5-6%.... I think if you are well spoken on all of these stuff you should have a good shot.
"Oh also, research "sizing a commercial mortgage" or "sizing CRE debt." Wells Fargo probably has an interest rate, say 3%, adds maybe LIBOR, then adds like 1% cushion lets say. So the mortgage interest rate is now 5-6%."
Why the cushion? Its almost always a benchmark and LIBOR for a conventional commercial mortgage-- no funny business.
.
Not crossing my fingers yet as this is all preliminary, but thank you! I just sent her my resume this morning, and also sent out a small personal gift (coffee mug) related to something we talked about on our initial call. Hopefully I'll hear back by the end of the week.
If not, when should I follow-up? Monday? A week from today?
Wells Fargo Energy Group (FAP) (Originally Posted: 10/14/2014)
I just got invited to interview with Energy Group in the Wells' Financial Analyst program. I don't know much about the group, can anyone talk about the duties, exit opps, comp, etc? This is not for the Investment Banking Circuit, I do know that. From what I can gather, it is Credit.
So, does the FAP group sit in a circle? Are you a full-time fapper or just a fapping intern?
Well, I guess that's what I'm trying to find out: what the group does all day. I'd be going full time. Not entirely interested in it, but I guess I could be if there is opportunity with this group.
I have a buddy in FAP. They do corporate and commercial banking. Rotational program. It is 3 years long I believe. HQ'd out of Minneapolis, but you spend a lot of time in SF also. Not sure where the energy group would be HQ'd out of .
If you want corporate banking I think it is a good program. If you want IB probably not.
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