Goldman Sachs Flashcards
Walk me through your resume
Thanks for giving me this opportunity, and I would be happy too. My name is Nathan Watts, I am from Worcester UK and am currently studying for a masters in finance from Warwick business school.
My interest in finance stemmed from an arguably unrelated experience during my younger years, where I built a business around buying and selling clothes. The idea was to find clothes that were listed for a price lower than what I estimated the item to actually be worth, purchase them and then try to sell them at a higher price for a profit. I spoke about this with my father, and he noted that this process sounds a lot like the process of investing, and that’s when my interest in the finance industry really started. From here, I did an internship with a small wealth management firm, where I was introduced to the basics of portfolio management, as well as being able to see first hand the impact that helping people manage their finances can have on an individual and their families life. In addition to this, I worked part time at Marstons pubs, where I honed my interpersonal skills.
Once at university, I joined various finance related societies, including the global markets and trading societies. Here I presented various presentations on technical and fundamental analysis, and realised that I really enjoyed talking about the financial markets with others. Because of this I decided, to set up a trading and investing community, where others interested in the world of investing could learn and network with others interested in the industry. A short while after, I explored building an algorithmic trading portfolio alongside some of my community members, which was a very challenging but enriching project. These experiences, combined with my passion for helping people, have led me to today, where I am pursuing a career within the wealth management industry, so I can have a real world impact on people and their families, whilst operating in a markets related role.
You have just submitted a critical monthly report on behalf of the team to your manager. You realize there is a mistake on a part of the report that is rarely reviewed. What would you do
I think the first thing to double check with a team member that the error I believe I have identified is actually an error, and then if the team member confirms it, immediately inform my manager. When informing them, I would do my best to bring the correct information if possible. I think it is critical that no decisions or client meetings are informed by using this report, and no matter how small the mistake, and so it should be corrected immediately. After this, I would go back to my team and try and work out how this error occurred, so we can make sure that it does not happen again in the future.
I think my actions could be received in both a positive and negative manner. First, I believe my manager is likely to be initially disappointed, but I am sure they would understand that mistakes do happen, and you just need to make sure that you learn from the mistakes. I also think the manager would be appreciative of my honesty, as it would have been easier to just ignore the issue, but this would have been inethical to do this.
You have a sense that one of your team members feels that their contributions are being dismissed or undervalued by other members of your team. How would you respond to this situation?
The first thing that Id like to highlight is that no one should ever be dismissed, and gaining diverse perspectives is important in making sure you approach a problem in the correct way. However, I think in this scenario it would be first best to speak privately to the team member in question, as although I may have a sense that this is the scenario, they may feel a different way. However, if I did speak to the team member and they confirmed my suspicions, I would immediately highlight to the rest of the group that we need to make sure we are consider all perspectives, as this will likely lead to a better outcome. Additionally, I would invite the team member into the conversation at an appropriate time, which should hopefully give them a platform to share their ideas. Hopefully this would resolve the issue, but if not, I would potetnially think about speaking to my manager in the future as it is not fair that one team members contribution is being dismissed, and this action could hurt innovation in the future.
Question 4
Tell me about a time that a project you really cared about was negatively impacted by events outside of your control. How did you handle that situation? • What obstacles did you face and how did you react to them? • What motivated you to persist?”
A project that I really care about that was negatively impacted by events outside of my control is my investment portfolio. In my spare time, I manage a small portfolio of money and select stocks for the discretionary portion of my portfolio. As you might expect, my portfolio was negatively impacted as a result of the covid 19 pandemic, as most global stock markets tumbled. Seeing my portfolio in over 15% drawdown was quite difficult, but I recognised I took this risk as my portfolio was predominantly equities because of my longer-term investment horizon. Trying to handle this situation was admittedly difficult, but I remainsed calm and wanted to see if my investment thesis for various stocks still held. After examining each of them, I realised that the equities I held still had good longer term outlooks, and hence decided to not only hold these positions, but work out good entries points for another position in some of these equities.
Looking back on this time now, I think I handled this situation quite well. I had cash waiting for a market pullback which I utilised effectively, and I didn’t panic and sell any of my positions without doing the proper research first. In terms of what motivated me to persist, I just viewed it as another problem to solve. You can’t always get things right, so you just need to try and find a way to overcome the problem, and this is what I believe I did.
“Tell me about a time you had to make a decision where there were many pros and cons for each option. How did you make this decision? • How did you compare the pros and cons? • What was the outcome of your decision?”
A time that I had to make a decision where there were many pros and cons was during clearing day, following my A Level results. I had received an offer to read Economics and Management at the university of Oxford, but due to underperforming at A Levels, I had did not achieved the grades required to take my place on this course. Because of this, I entered into clearing, where I had to decide which university I was going to attend for my undergraduate degree. I first applied to various different places to see my available offers. I actually received around 5-6 offers, which meant that I had a tough decision to make. I recognised that because this was such an emotionally charged situation, I had to try and find a way to unbiasedly rank different universitys, and so I decided on ranking them with criteria such as location, course content and university reputation. I then made an aggregated score to rank my top 2 universities, highlighted the one that I thought was the best choice, and then asked my parents as to which university they thought I should attend. As I recognised this was a big decision to make, I wanted to get another perspective on the situation, to make sure I wasn’t missing anything obvious. Luckily, my parents agreed on my decision to go to the university of york, and hence I accepted the offer.
In hindsight, I think this decision was the right one. I have made some lifelong friends, and have graduated with First Class Honours with Distinction, as well as receiving the head of department prize for highest overall examination performance of anyone in my economics cohort.
Tell us why you applied to the Consumer and Wealth Management Division. Describe which area(s)/group(s) you are most interested in and what skills you possess to be successful in the role.”
My interest in the consumer and Wealth Management division stems from my family background. I grew up in a family that thrived on helping people; my grandparents were in the police force, and my mum works at a charity. Therefore, helping people with the aim to have a real world impact is natural to me, which is highlighted by my strong history of volunteering. I think this means that my values align well with Wealth Management, as it all about helping people with their financial position and providing for themselves and their family.
Also, I like the integration of the portfolio management and investment strategy aspect that an internship on the Wealth - Asset management internship would provide. In my spare time, I have built a discretionary investment portfolio, as well as spent time developing quantitative trading strategies, which have developed my quantitative and analytical skills which will be useful when working with portfolios on the internship. Additionally, I have previously worked in a client facing role at Marstons pubs, where I have been able to nurture my interpersonal and customer service skills. The opportunity to utilise both my analytical abilities and personable nature to have a real world impact on people and families is my ideal job, and this is exactly what I envisage working in the consumer and wealth management division at Goldman Sachs provides.
In terms of the groups I am most interested in within the division, I would say I am initially drawn to the Private Wealth Management aspect of the division. However, I recognise that I am only young and I may be more suited to another division, and hence I am open to exploring all aspect of the division.
