Structured Finance Investment Banking Interview Guide
Comprehensive Structured Finance guide for investment banking interview preparation
Lesson Outline
Learn about securitization, asset-backed securities, and structured credit products.
- 1. What is Structured Finance?
- The "Why": Motivation for Securitization
- 2. The Mechanics of Securitization
- The Players
- The Critical Documents
- The Bankruptcy Remote Concept
- 3. Tranching and The Waterfall
- The Waterfall Structure
- Subordination as Protection
- 4. Credit Enhancement
- Internal Credit Enhancement
- External Credit Enhancement
- 5. The Structured Finance Desk: Roles
- 6. Common & Esoteric Asset Classes
- Standard Asset Classes
- Esoteric Asset Classes
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Flashcards
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Upgrade to DiamondPractice Quiz
What is the primary entity that holds the assets in a securitization transaction?
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Upgrade to DiamondPodcasts
Listen to conversational podcasts covering Structured Finance. 31 minutes of audio across basic and advanced levels.
About This Structured Finance Interview Guide
Learn about securitization, asset-backed securities, and structured credit products. Includes structured lessons, interactive flashcards, practice quizzes, and podcasts to help you master Structured Finance for investment banking interviews.
This guide is part of the Capital Markets section of our interview preparation platform. Each guide includes structured lessons at basic and advanced levels, interactive flashcards for active recall, practice quizzes to test your understanding, and podcasts you can listen to on the go.
Structured Lessons
Basic and advanced content levels
24 Flashcards
Active recall for interview prep
24 Quiz Questions
Test your understanding
31 Min of Podcasts
Conversational audio you can listen anywhere
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TD Securities
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Lazard
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Houlihan Lokey
“IB Vine was the most helpful resource I had during recruiting. I will continue to promote it to other students at WashU and elsewhere.”
Jefferies
“Awesome product, helped me crush my technicals in my interviews and land a great role. Thank you, seriously was a huge help.”
Morgan Stanley
“Very helpful to get real-life questions unlike the 400 guide, especially for merger math. Built deeper understanding of key concepts.”
Houlihan Lokey
“Extremely helpful study tool that carried me through the recruitment process from start to end.”
Evercore
“You guys are doing great work over there with IB Vine. Absolute staple for interview prep.”
Rothschild
“IB Vine was incredibly helpful and I am forever thankful for all the help.”
RBC
“IB Mock was amazing - I used it for multiple hours. Also the flashcards and the lessons features on IB Vine were fantastic. Thank you!”
Moelis & Co.
“I loved IB Vine. I’m going into Private Capital Advisory (PCA); you have the lessons on there for PCA and that was actually a game changer. I went into those interviews and knew about the core PCA concepts like net asset value, primary fundraising vs. secondary advisory, etc. I swear I was on IB Vine like a few hours a day. The opportunity to have that learning section and go through the questions people submit and everything — there’s no better tool out there. I loved the guides/lessons. The user interface is amazing. The way you’ve simplified it is so spectacular — it’s just so much easier to digest. It’s fun to use too; I’d rather use IB Vine than scroll through a guide. To be honest, I think the product is perfect. I genuinely owe you a big thanks.”
Moelis & Co.
“IB Vine is a tool we really love to use in the club I’m a part of, and there’s really no other resource like it. You guys do a phenomenal job with the question bank. I recruited specifically for Energy banking, and IB Vine was my most used resource for generalist questions (which were about 50% of my interview questions; the rest being Energy-specific); the majority of such questions I saw in interviews were at least similar (if not the same) to the ones on IB Vine.”
Perella Weinberg
“Once I read through the BIWS learning guides, I really didn’t refer to them again. I didn’t even really run through the 400 question guide once I found IB Vine, which I heard about through one of my classmates. We even get a free subscription (like most business schools) to Wall Street Prep, and if I’m being completely honest, I never even logged in to WSP. IB Vine is pretty much the only tool I used (along with our club question bank & mock interviews with peers) and it was invaluable for recruiting.”
Cantor Fitzgerald
“What a platform, made such a huge difference. I did superdays at Evercore, PJT, M. Klein and Barclays among others from a non-target school and did not miss a single technical in any interview process through prepping with IB Vine.”
Barclays
“Very accurate questions and all of the solutions are easy to follow. At least 10 of the questions I studied through this platform appeared in my Round 1 or Superday interviews.”
TD Securities
“THANK YOU SO MUCH IB VINE, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU, SERIOUSLY!!! IB Vine was the best website ever. I spent at least two hours on this daily (seriously) from October through I get my offer in February.”
Citadel
“I’m doing public equities this summer and next. I know the name is “IB Vine” but at the undergrad level a lot of the technicals across public equities are the same as investment banking. I recommend your software to all my friends!”
Piper Sandler
“I loved this site! 1000% this is the best resource I used in the process.”
Lazard
“This was the greatest tool ever. I genuinely enjoyed running through the technicals/behaviorals and it was very helpful!”
Houlihan Lokey
“IB Vine was the most helpful resource I had during recruiting. I will continue to promote it to other students at WashU and elsewhere.”
Jefferies
“Awesome product, helped me crush my technicals in my interviews and land a great role. Thank you, seriously was a huge help.”
Morgan Stanley
“Very helpful to get real-life questions unlike the 400 guide, especially for merger math. Built deeper understanding of key concepts.”
Houlihan Lokey
“Extremely helpful study tool that carried me through the recruitment process from start to end.”
Evercore
“You guys are doing great work over there with IB Vine. Absolute staple for interview prep.”
Rothschild
“IB Vine was incredibly helpful and I am forever thankful for all the help.”
RBC
“IB Mock was amazing - I used it for multiple hours. Also the flashcards and the lessons features on IB Vine were fantastic. Thank you!”
Moelis & Co.
“I loved IB Vine. I’m going into Private Capital Advisory (PCA); you have the lessons on there for PCA and that was actually a game changer. I went into those interviews and knew about the core PCA concepts like net asset value, primary fundraising vs. secondary advisory, etc. I swear I was on IB Vine like a few hours a day. The opportunity to have that learning section and go through the questions people submit and everything — there’s no better tool out there. I loved the guides/lessons. The user interface is amazing. The way you’ve simplified it is so spectacular — it’s just so much easier to digest. It’s fun to use too; I’d rather use IB Vine than scroll through a guide. To be honest, I think the product is perfect. I genuinely owe you a big thanks.”
Moelis & Co.
“IB Vine is a tool we really love to use in the club I’m a part of, and there’s really no other resource like it. You guys do a phenomenal job with the question bank. I recruited specifically for Energy banking, and IB Vine was my most used resource for generalist questions (which were about 50% of my interview questions; the rest being Energy-specific); the majority of such questions I saw in interviews were at least similar (if not the same) to the ones on IB Vine.”
Perella Weinberg
“Once I read through the BIWS learning guides, I really didn’t refer to them again. I didn’t even really run through the 400 question guide once I found IB Vine, which I heard about through one of my classmates. We even get a free subscription (like most business schools) to Wall Street Prep, and if I’m being completely honest, I never even logged in to WSP. IB Vine is pretty much the only tool I used (along with our club question bank & mock interviews with peers) and it was invaluable for recruiting.”
Cantor Fitzgerald
“What a platform, made such a huge difference. I did superdays at Evercore, PJT, M. Klein and Barclays among others from a non-target school and did not miss a single technical in any interview process through prepping with IB Vine.”
Barclays
“Very accurate questions and all of the solutions are easy to follow. At least 10 of the questions I studied through this platform appeared in my Round 1 or Superday interviews.”
TD Securities
“THANK YOU SO MUCH IB VINE, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU, SERIOUSLY!!! IB Vine was the best website ever. I spent at least two hours on this daily (seriously) from October through I get my offer in February.”
Citadel
“I’m doing public equities this summer and next. I know the name is “IB Vine” but at the undergrad level a lot of the technicals across public equities are the same as investment banking. I recommend your software to all my friends!”
Piper Sandler
“I loved this site! 1000% this is the best resource I used in the process.”
Lazard
“This was the greatest tool ever. I genuinely enjoyed running through the technicals/behaviorals and it was very helpful!”
Houlihan Lokey
“IB Vine was the most helpful resource I had during recruiting. I will continue to promote it to other students at WashU and elsewhere.”
Jefferies
“Awesome product, helped me crush my technicals in my interviews and land a great role. Thank you, seriously was a huge help.”
Morgan Stanley
“Very helpful to get real-life questions unlike the 400 guide, especially for merger math. Built deeper understanding of key concepts.”
Houlihan Lokey
“Extremely helpful study tool that carried me through the recruitment process from start to end.”
Evercore
“You guys are doing great work over there with IB Vine. Absolute staple for interview prep.”
Rothschild
“IB Vine was incredibly helpful and I am forever thankful for all the help.”
RBC
“IB Mock was amazing - I used it for multiple hours. Also the flashcards and the lessons features on IB Vine were fantastic. Thank you!”
Moelis & Co.
“I loved IB Vine. I’m going into Private Capital Advisory (PCA); you have the lessons on there for PCA and that was actually a game changer. I went into those interviews and knew about the core PCA concepts like net asset value, primary fundraising vs. secondary advisory, etc. I swear I was on IB Vine like a few hours a day. The opportunity to have that learning section and go through the questions people submit and everything — there’s no better tool out there. I loved the guides/lessons. The user interface is amazing. The way you’ve simplified it is so spectacular — it’s just so much easier to digest. It’s fun to use too; I’d rather use IB Vine than scroll through a guide. To be honest, I think the product is perfect. I genuinely owe you a big thanks.”
Moelis & Co.
“IB Vine is a tool we really love to use in the club I’m a part of, and there’s really no other resource like it. You guys do a phenomenal job with the question bank. I recruited specifically for Energy banking, and IB Vine was my most used resource for generalist questions (which were about 50% of my interview questions; the rest being Energy-specific); the majority of such questions I saw in interviews were at least similar (if not the same) to the ones on IB Vine.”
Perella Weinberg
“Once I read through the BIWS learning guides, I really didn’t refer to them again. I didn’t even really run through the 400 question guide once I found IB Vine, which I heard about through one of my classmates. We even get a free subscription (like most business schools) to Wall Street Prep, and if I’m being completely honest, I never even logged in to WSP. IB Vine is pretty much the only tool I used (along with our club question bank & mock interviews with peers) and it was invaluable for recruiting.”
Cantor Fitzgerald
“What a platform, made such a huge difference. I did superdays at Evercore, PJT, M. Klein and Barclays among others from a non-target school and did not miss a single technical in any interview process through prepping with IB Vine.”
Barclays
“Very accurate questions and all of the solutions are easy to follow. At least 10 of the questions I studied through this platform appeared in my Round 1 or Superday interviews.”
TD Securities
“THANK YOU SO MUCH IB VINE, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU, SERIOUSLY!!! IB Vine was the best website ever. I spent at least two hours on this daily (seriously) from October through I get my offer in February.”
Citadel
“I’m doing public equities this summer and next. I know the name is “IB Vine” but at the undergrad level a lot of the technicals across public equities are the same as investment banking. I recommend your software to all my friends!”
Piper Sandler
“I loved this site! 1000% this is the best resource I used in the process.”
Lazard
“This was the greatest tool ever. I genuinely enjoyed running through the technicals/behaviorals and it was very helpful!”
Houlihan Lokey
“IB Vine was the most helpful resource I had during recruiting. I will continue to promote it to other students at WashU and elsewhere.”
Jefferies
“Awesome product, helped me crush my technicals in my interviews and land a great role. Thank you, seriously was a huge help.”
Morgan Stanley
“Very helpful to get real-life questions unlike the 400 guide, especially for merger math. Built deeper understanding of key concepts.”
Houlihan Lokey
“Extremely helpful study tool that carried me through the recruitment process from start to end.”
Evercore
“You guys are doing great work over there with IB Vine. Absolute staple for interview prep.”
Rothschild
“IB Vine was incredibly helpful and I am forever thankful for all the help.”
RBC
“IB Mock was amazing - I used it for multiple hours. Also the flashcards and the lessons features on IB Vine were fantastic. Thank you!”
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