Ameriprise Financial Analyst Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Q: Give me five steps to estimate the number of traffic lights in Bombay.
Me: I will divide the city into equidistant lines, both vertical and horizontal; sort of a mesh. Then I would take vertical and horizontal rectangles i.e. the rectangles which fall on length and breadth of the city. Starting with the horizontal ones I would try to estimate the number of roads going from east to west in each rectangle(depending on the type of area: residential, commercial or a highway) Similarly I would try to estimate the number of roads going from north to south in each vertical rectangle. Now I have the average number of roads per unit length and per unit breadth. Now, I can calculate the average number of roads intersecting per rectangle. Now if I have the data, I can also use the traffic density data to further improve my estimate, i.e. whether the traffic light is required in that rectangle or not.(depending upon the traffic density)
Q: Lets say that golden quadrilateral gets completed tomorrow. What would be its impact on the sales of Ashok Leyland?
Me: Sir, they would increase, as more and more traffic will shift from railways to roadways as the average time taken by road will decrease.
Q: If I say that the sales will decreases by road, the truk will make the same number of trips in less amount of time, thereby rendering overcapacity in the road transport market therefore the sales will decrease.
Me: (I actually didn't let him complete, I interrupted him in between and said that I got the logic)
Tips: Don't try to overstate the facts.

Skills:
Duration: 3
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: HR Interview
Experience: 1. At First, I missed the Credit Suisse GD since I hadn’t brought along a portfolio manager (one who handles your interview schedule and attends to the ever-ringing mobile phone).
2. I proceeded to Credit Suisse, and requested their HR contact to give me a chance since I could not turn up for the GDs.
3. It was here that I handed over my mobile phone to my friend Apratim Tiwari, who was managing the Credit Suisse procedures, and requested him to pursue the HR guy to schedule an interview, and also handle my phone when I was interviewing and he had successfully managed to get me an interview with Credit Suisse.
4. The interview went well. They were apparently quite impressed.
5. Two more rounds of interviews, and the HR guy made me an offer.
6. But, since Deutsche Bank was my dream company, I was also interviewing with them and got selected.
Tips: You would need to focus on three broad areas for a comprehensive preparation:
(a) HR questions: This is the most important part for any interview. In companies like DB, your communication skills coupled with your preparation of such questions account for more than 70% of a candidate’s selection. Answering questions about your career goals, interests, and your career thus far should become second nature by the end of November. You must also know the firms and job profiles inside out. I worked on this specific area, and by the end of the placement session, I had gained a reputation among my wingies for my expertise at answering HR questions.
(b) Puzzles: Since this is a non-core sector, puzzles are the only way to objectively test the ability of candidates with diverse backgrounds. Look up braingle.com and techinterview.org. These two should suffice. Also, whenever you come across a puzzle that you’ve already encountered, pretend as if you’re going through it for the first time. Don’t rush through. This is your opportunity to impress them. Do not squander it away!
(c) Finance and economic affairs: If you have a comprehensive knowledge of the financial markets, national economy, and international affairs, in addition to the above two, it is highly improbable that you won’t be selected. For brushing up these, read the Economist (print or online), and read through the opinion pages of Economic Times or the Business Standard for 2-3 months leading to the Placement season. You must also regularly read a newspaper like the Hindu or Indian Express to keep yourself abreast of the latest events which frequently become a focal point of group discussions (for Credit Suisse). You CANNOT afford to walk into the interview ignorant of terms like European debt crisis, global financial crisis, fiscal cliff, QE, and basic finance like options, hedging etc. Wikipedia, Investopedia and J.C.Hull (first few chapters) are great sources to pick up these.

General Tips: 1. If you are a B.Tech. student, do not be under the wrong impression that you can target all sectors- core as well as non-core. It is really difficult to prepare comprehensively for all companies, especially if you are in the B.Tech. program owing to time constraints.
2. The Dual degree students have an edge over you for precisely two reasons. Firstly, they get more time to prepare for the placements, and have learnt vicariously from their B.Tech. batchmates' experiences. Secondly, they tend to have higher retention rates (good for the companies).
3. Work on your English communication skills which are crucial for performing well in interviews and GDs.
Let neither of these become an obstacle by leaving no stone unturned in the course of your preparations.
4. You can’t appear for more than 4 companies in the first slot. It is not realistic. Hence, decide beforehand. I knew I hadn’t prepared enough for consulting or core, hence I opted out of ITC and Opera.
5. If you are shortlisted in multiple companies, ask a reliable friend to accompany you to the interviews, and handle your mobile phone (“managing one’s portfolio”). You’ll thank me someday for this advice.
6. I was happy that I prepared as much as I did, neglecting my college academics in the process. It is a decision I am proud of.
7. My Morgan Stanley internship distinguished me from scores of other candidates. I had never truly appreciated its importance till then. That also goes to show how important it is to get a good internship.
Skill Tips: 1. I scored a 100 percentile in CAT and the preparation made a huge impact on preparing for any of the interviews.
2. I also interned at Morgan Stanley which was further a plus for me.
3. I had received Honda YES Award, University of Tokyo-IIT Scholarship and my academic background was quite good.
Skills: Problem solving skills, Finance Basics, Basic HR questions, Economic affairs
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: The interviewer asked questions based upon CV. He first made me adjust to the environment and then started the serious questions realted to technical stuff.
Tips: Never lie about any subject you don't really know. Keep a particular topic strong, in my case it was Database Management. Have good problem solving skills, if not efficient but at least a good solution.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: The round consisted of technical questions based on my analysis of the first round. Consisted of higher levele questions related to my topics of my expertise.
Tips: Be ready for any spontaneous questions. Explain whatever comes to your mind instead of quietly thinking. Be communicative and confident. They don't care about the syntax but rather the logical thinking.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Just be communicative. Since you've qualified till the HR interview, you are almost confirmed for their position. They checked if I could handle pressure or not. They tried to know if they could give me more responsibilities in the near future or not.
Tips: Be confident and don't hesitate to answer. Express what you feel genuinely. Show that you are a responsible guy.

College Name: IIT Varanasi

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: For CSE and EE students , CPI was not at all seem to be a criteria for shortlisting and almost all who have a decent profile got shortlisted for the test. However, for other department students they shortlisted above 9 CPI students.

Round: Test
Experience: It was a 2 hour test. It consisted of 3 sections-Quant , Machine Learning and Computer Science . Each section had 10 questions and 45 minutes were allotted for each section.
Being from non-CSE background I attempted only 2 sections ie. Quant and Machine Learning. Machine Learning section was fairly easy this time and almost all questions were standard. If someone has done an introductory course on Machine Learning and basic stats , this section was a cake walk for him. However , attempting quant section required some preparation of solving probability puzzles (computing expectations etc.) ,basic linear algebra and geometry base questions.
Duration: 2 hours

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I had 2 rounds of interview. Both were technical ones.
In the first interview , they asked some probability puzzles (from 50 challenging problems in probability book) . Since I had completed that book before , I was able to solve them . Then they asked 1-2 algorithm based questions like formulate an efficient algorithm for solving a particular problem. I was not able to solve them completely but tried to give them the overview of y approach. The interviewer didn't seem to be satisfied though. It lasted for around 20-25 minutes.He told me to wait outside . To my surprise, I was called for the 2nd round.
The second went better than the first round. They again asked questions on computing probability , expectations , constructing a Markov Chain for a a given problem etc. Since I had done 1 course in Fiance also , he asked me questions from it also which were quite easy. Then he began asking algorithms and asked me to explain a sorting algorithm and I chose Quick Sort. While explaining it , I got struck at one point but the interviewer was helping me by giving hints and I was able to explain it fully. The second round was quite exhaustive as it went on for around 45-60 minutes.

Skills: Problem Solving Abilties, Mathematical Aptitude, Algorithmic Approach To Problem Solving, Machine Learning, Statistical Method Basics
College Name: IIT Kanpur

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: I think they were looking for Basic understanding of financial accounting, confidence.
My experience of working on valuation of Oil & Gas projects, financial modelling helped a lot
Tips: My confidence in answering questions related to finance and Read thoroughly two chapters 11 & 12 of “Financial Accounting” book by RNS

Skill Tips: They will give you required training
Skills: Finance
College Name: IIM Bangalore

Round: Puzzle Interview
Tips: Prepare for questions on your resume, puzzles and a couple of HR questions.

Round: Puzzle Interview
Experience: A few resume based questions were asked too.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: They tried to judge how well the candidate would fit in with their company.

General Tips: Focus on the few companies that you want to get into, and prepare well for them. 
Do not give way to peer influence. Do what you want to, even if it is not the most sought after.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: My strong resume aided in getting shortlisted for Credit Suisse.

Round: Group Discussion
Experience: The GD went well as I did not haste into my chance and was calm throughout.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: The interview was with an alumni who told me that my GD performance was good, and asked me a puzzle. It was followed by some questions on my resume, mainly my internship.
Another puzzle followed, which I took some time to solve. I was able to solve the next one instantly,
Then I was asked to sell a crumbled piece of paper innovatively.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: This round was with a senior member in the company who asked about my resume, stay in campus, post of election officer and some tricky questions, which I answered well. A question on probability was asked. A few more puzzles followed, along with some questions on finance. He also mentioned that he did not expect me to answer these as I had no background in finance. But i was able to answer them.
I was then asked to leave and HR was called inside. I also had an interview with Diamond. The HR came to me and told me that they were interested in and asked me to stall my interview with diamond for a while.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was with VP and continued for 45 minutes with no puzzles, finances or cases. It was more of a discussion on all fields ranging from campus life to UP politics to Sachin's retirement, etc.
I was asked about my internship experience and the reason i wanted to join their company .

Round: HR Interview
Experience: It was with the Director, who said that he had a sore throat and hence would not say much. he said that they wanted to hire me and that I do not interview with any other firm. I was more than glad! I was the first person to bag an offer in the placement season.

College Name: IIT KANPUR