Investment banking · M&A · capital markets
Guggenheim Securities interview process
First-round screens mix behavioral and basic technical questions, then a four-to-six-interview superday closes with a senior banker.
- Rounds
- 2
- First round, Final round
- Questions in the bank
- 10
- Graded, firm-specific
Practice a real question
Answer one Guggenheim Securities question
Graded by AI in about twenty seconds. No account needed for this one.
Bridge EBITDA to unlevered free cash flow
Start with EBITDA of 120. Depreciation and amortization is 20, the tax rate is 25 percent, capital expenditures are 30, and net working capital increases by 10. Calculate unlevered free cash flow. Show the bridge and explain why each adjustment is made.
Use unlevered free cash flow = EBIT times one minus the tax rate, plus depreciation and amortization, minus capital expenditures, minus the increase in net working capital.
Enter an answer to submit.
How Guggenheim Securities interviews
Guggenheim Securities is the investment-banking and capital-markets arm of Guggenheim Partners, an asset-management and insurance platform. It's an advisory boutique with concentrated sector strength in media and communications and industrials, with no large trading or lending balance sheet behind it. Analyst classes are small, so junior bankers get senior-banker deal exposure that a bulge-bracket seat rarely offers this early.
The process rewards genuine sector interest over a rehearsed pitch: first-round interviews mix behavioral and basic technical questions rather than separating them, and a superday of four to six back-to-back interviews closes with a senior banker weighing real platform interest. Later rounds widen into capital-markets and structured-product reasoning drawn from the firm's asset-management roots.
Step 1
First round
A first-round screen mixing behavioral and basic technical questions; some candidates instead report a written assessment by email.
- Expect deal-mechanics and valuation questions alongside background and motivation questions in the same conversation.
- You may receive a 10-K or an M&A deal beforehand to analyze and discuss.
Step 2
Final round
Four to six back-to-back interviews in one day, closing with a senior-banker conversation on platform fit.
- Later interviews widen past M&A valuation into capital-markets and structured-product reasoning.
- Expect sector questions in the firm's named strengths: media and communications, and industrials.
- A senior banker closes the day, weighing genuine interest in the platform.
What Guggenheim Securities tests
Share of the 10 Guggenheim Securities questions in our bank by topic. Each topic links to a worked example.
- Behavioral questions50%
- Accretion and dilution20%
- Three-statement questions10%
- DCF questions10%
- Mental math and markets10%
- Core deal mechanics: EBITDA to unlevered free cash flow, and a full DCF walkthrough.
- Capital-markets and structured-product reasoning beyond a standard M&A valuation script.
- Sector fluency in the firm's named strengths: media and communications, and industrials.
- Genuine intellectual curiosity: how you think through a problem, not just the final number.
From the Guggenheim Securities question bank
Real questions from the set. Open one to answer it with grading.
- Choose the Guggenheim work you want to pursueBehavioral questions|Advanced
- Accretive deal that still destroys valueAccretion and dilution|Advanced
- Working-capital build and cash conversionThree-statement questions|Advanced
- Match a financing structure to volatile cash flowMental math and markets|Advanced
- Prove Guggenheim is a deliberate choiceBehavioral questions|Advanced
- Choose cash, stock, or debt for an acquisitionAccretion and dilution|Advanced
- Defend a sector interest with evidenceBehavioral questions|Advanced
- Show ownership for a lean Guggenheim teamBehavioral questions|Advanced
How to stand out at Guggenheim Securities
- Speak concretely to why a boutique inside a larger asset-management platform changes the deal work, not just the prestige.
- Be ready to reason through a capital-markets or structured-product question live; it shows up past the first round here specifically.
- Bring a current point of view on media and communications or industrials, the firm's two named sector strengths.
- With a small analyst class, interviewers can tell when this is a backup plan rather than a first choice; show it isn't.
Keep going
Free interview path
- Step 1Bridge EBITDA to unlevered free cash flowDCF questions · Basic
- Step 25 behavioral questions
- Step 32 accretion and dilution questions
- Step 41 three-statement question
Guggenheim Securities pages
- Guggenheim Securities interview questions
Ten worked questions and the full process
Practice the topics
- Behavioral questions
Worked example plus a graded set
- Accretion and dilution
Worked example plus a graded set
- Three-statement questions
Worked example plus a graded set
Other investment banking firms
- Qatalyst Partners
Independent technology M&A specialist.
- Goldman Sachs
Global advisory and capital-markets platform.
- Morgan Stanley
Global franchise spanning advisory and financing.
- J.P. Morgan
Large global advisory and financing platform.
The full set
Practice all 10 Guggenheim Securities questions
Every question above, graded with feedback, inside the Guggenheim Securities set.
Practice Guggenheim Securities questionsFree, no card. 5 AI-graded reps a day for 3 days from your first rep.