The 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide: 2025 Edition

Yes, you read that headline correctly: We have released a new version of the famous 400 Questions Investment Banking guide.

To get it, enter your email address below, confirm your email, and click the link in the first full email you receive:

Download the 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide (2025 Edition)

Enter your name and email address and confirm your email address after entry to get the latest guide + the free bonuses.

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After you sign up, you’ll also receive several additional bonuses via email:

1. An “accounting interview question” model you can use to understand the three statements (simplified vs. the full version, but still useful).
2. A 4-page “technical cheat sheet” you can use to review key concepts and formulas before you step into the interview room.
3. And a short M&A case study, like one you might receive at an assessment center in the U.K. or even in some boutique bank interviews in the U.S.

If you already have our financial modeling course or the full IB Interview Guide, navigate to the first module of those courses to get everything.

And if you need more of a pitch for this free 207-page guide, here it is:

What’s New/Different in This 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide?

This version significantly expands on all the older ones floating around online and goes into far more depth on key concepts, such as:

• Fit / behavioral questions, including sample answers and structures.
• Deal discussions based on two recent M&A and LBO transactions.
• Accounting and how to link the 3 statements.
• Equity Value vs. Enterprise Value and how to explain changes in these metrics.
• M&A and LBO modeling, including “quick math” questions.
• And industry-specific questions and answers – 155 of them, in fact.

It also fixes/improves numerous answers and does a better job of teaching the main ideas without being a textbook.

You can see the full Table of Contents below:

And here’s a short preview of the output of the “Accounting Interview Question” model:

Here’s a short excerpt from the 4-page “Technical Cheat Sheet”:

Why Release a New 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide Now?

There were three main factors:

1. Age – The original guide is over 15 years old and was really in need of an update.
2. Experience – This version combines everything I’ve learned in answering 50,000+ student questions and conducting 500+ mock interviews and coaching sessions since 2009. These insights make the guide significantly better.
3. Maturity – The flip side of this experience is that I don’t think we can improve the guide too much more. Sure, accounting rules might change, and new industries might pop up, but the core concepts are well-covered and aren’t going anywhere.

So, it felt like it was the right time to edit and publish this new version.

Have Investment Banking Interviews Changed Since 2009?

Yes and no.

The most obvious changes relate to the process: It has moved up and become more competitive, and you need to start very early in university to have a good shot.

Banks have also tried to automate large chunks of recruitment via HireVue and online tests (we’ll see how well they work in the age of AI…).

Interview questions do not necessarily test different topics, but they have shifted to testing conceptual understanding.

Bankers are fully aware of the many interview guides and prep resources out there, so they try to avoid questions with easily memorized answers.

This “400 Questions” guide has some conceptual material, but the questions and answers are mostly for review and practice.

Our full courses spend more time teaching the fundamentals from the ground up, which is more important if you’re a beginner or a career changer.

Will There Be Another New 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide in the Future?

The short answer is that we are unlikely to ever release a new, completely different version of this guide.

There may be updates over time to reflect new accounting rules or other industry shifts, but I doubt there will ever be a completely new version.

I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years, and “diminishing returns” set in a long time ago.

Some people will argue that expanding this guide to 800, 4,000, or 8,000 questions is useful, but I think that’s counterproductive.

If you want to memorize 8,000 questions, go outside, get some sunlight, and focus on learning the concepts rather than memorizing everything.

This guide should be a starting point or a quick review in your preparation process.

Back in 2009, some students got through interviews just by memorizing the original version of this guide.

But it’s not 2009 anymore, and the same strategies don’t work nearly as well.

All that said, it is still nice to have hundreds of questions and answers spanning the main fit, technical, and industry-specific topics in one spot.

So, make sure you sign up to get the new version:

Download the 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide (2025 Edition)

Enter your name and email address and confirm your email address after entry to get the latest guide + the free bonuses.

We respect email privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.