What a top hedge fund asks you in an interview - Financial News 29.12.

2019, 23:29

Get the full story

SIGN IN

Don’t have an account?

Start a trial

HEDGE FUNDS

What a top hedge fund asks you in an

interview
So you think you’ve got what it takes to join a hedge fund? Here are some sample interview
questions from one top firm

Questions are geared towards science and maths — iStockphoto

By Becky Pritchard
Updated: January 30, 2017 9:24 am GMT

So you think you’ve got what it takes to join a hedge fund?

They’re picky recruiters, putting candidates through a barrage of tests and interviews
before making an offer. Going through eight to 10 interviews for a firm is not
uncommon, say recruiters.

Below are some sample interview questions from the graduate recruitment
programme for quantitative hedge fund Systematica Investments, which spun out of
BlueCrest in 2015 and now manages about $10 billion.

Because the firm uses computer algorithms when trading, the questions are geared

https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/what-a-top-hedge-fund-asks-you-in-an-interview-20170130 Strona 1 z 3
What a top hedge fund asks you in an interview - Financial News 29.12.2019, 23:29

towards those with a science and maths background. Pawel Lewicki, who designed the
firm’s graduate recruitment programme, says it could take two to three days for
candidates to complete the test.

Bear in mind that answering these questions is just the start of their interview process.
If you pass this first test, there are then typically four one-hour video interviews with
senior executives at the firm, followed by an online psychometric test and then an
eight-hour assessment day at the firm’s London or Geneva office where candidates
have to solve problems and face further maths and coding tests.

Question 1:
a) If you toss a coin until you see two heads in a row, how many tosses are required on
average?

b) If you toss a coin until you see a head followed by a tail, how many tosses are
required on average?

c) Why are these answers different, given that head-tail and head-head have an equal
chance of appearing after two coin tosses?

Question 2:
You want to create an open box with a square base and have only a fixed amount of
material. How do you maximise the volume of the box, given the constraint on the
total surface?

Question 3:
Given that A and B are covariance matrices, which of these are also covariance
matrices?
A+B
A²
AB

Question 4:
Consider a circle and an equilateral triangle inscribed inside the circle. Write some
code to compute the following by simulation:

a) Take two points randomly on the circumference of the circle. Connect and measure
the length of the chord through the two points. What is the probability that the chord
is longer than the side of the triangle?

b) Take a random point inside a circle. This is the midpoint of only one chord. What is
the probability that this chord is longer than the side of the triangle?

c) Take two points randomly inside a circle. Consider the chord that goes through the
two points. What is the probability that the chord is longer than the side of the
triangle?

Question 5:
Given two words, the edit distance between them is defined asCookie
the number
Notice of SPONSORED CONTENT
operations needed on the first
We word to convert
use cookies into advertising
for analytics, the other,and
where the allowed
to improve our site. You agree to our use of cookies by
closing this Most discussed UK & US
operations are insertion, removal andmessage box or
replacing ofcontinuing to usedo
letters. How ouryou
site. write
To find aout more, including how to change your
function
settings, see our Cookie Policy Banks !
that computes this distance between two words?
Get the full story Updated 1 mins ago Terms of use
SIGN IN TRIAL
Sign in
Question 6:or start a trial now
Top UK Banks Top US Banks
A dynamic model is defined as follows: State(n,m,t) is the state of the node (n,m) at
Assets receiving high attention
time t. This value is either 0 or 1. A neighbourhood of node (n,m) consists of 8 nodes
around it. Denote LifeAround(n,m,t) as the number of nodes in the neighbourhood of 1. Barclays Above averag
BARC

https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/what-a-top-hedge-fund-asks-you-in-an-interview-20170130 Strona 2 z 3
What a top hedge fund asks you in an interview - Financial News 29.12.2019, 23:29

(n,m) at time t that are in state 1. Evolution: If state(n,m,t)=0 (dead) then

2. Co-operative Bank Above averag
state(n,m,t+1)=1 (alive) iff LifeAround(n,m,t)=3If state(n,m,t)=1 (alive) then
state(n,m,t+1)=0 (dead) iff LifeAround(n,m,t)<2 or LifeAround(n,m,t)>3
3. Nationwide Building
a) Write a function that starts with the given state and develops the model through n NBS

steps on a fixed grid with zeros outside the boundary.

4. Royal Bank of Scotland
RBS
b) Write a similar function that has no boundary.
5. Metro Bank
Conversation Log In MTRO

Your nickname...

Be the first to comment...

Terms · Privacy Add Spot.IM to your site

https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/what-a-top-hedge-fund-asks-you-in-an-interview-20170130 Strona 3 z 3