Be ready to go over:

• Catalyst Analysis – Identifying specific corporate, regulatory, or macroeconomic events that will reprice an asset.
• Financial Modeling & Statement Analysis – Pulling key metrics from 10-Ks and 10-Qs to evaluate corporate health, debt structures, and cash flows.
• Second-Order Thinking – Anticipating how a primary market event will impact adjacent industries, suppliers, or competitors.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Options-implied valuations, capital structure arbitrage, and complex corporate restructurings.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Pitch me a stock. Walk me through the business model, why the current market price is wrong, what the catalyst is to close that gap, and your specific downside risk."
• "A major pharmaceutical company just had a key drug rejected by the FDA. How does this impact their debt covenants, and what are the second-order effects on their primary competitors?"

As a Research Analyst at Susquehanna International Group, your day-to-day work is dynamic, highly analytical, and deeply integrated with our trading operations. You will be responsible for generating actionable investment ideas and providing real-time analytical support to our trading desks.

Your primary responsibilities will include:

• Conducting deep fundamental research on companies, industries, and specific corporate events to identify structural market mispricings.
• Building and maintaining complex financial models, utilizing data from SEC filings, industry databases, and proprietary datasets.
• Translating qualitative real-world events, regulatory changes, and earnings reports into quantitative fair-value estimates for equity and derivative contracts.
• Collaborating closely with traders and quantitative researchers to design, test, and execute event-driven trading strategies.
• Presenting clear, concise investment recommendations and risk assessments directly to senior research analysts and trading desk heads.
• Monitoring ongoing portfolio exposure, tracking industry catalysts, and updating valuation models dynamically as new market data emerges.

We look for candidates who possess an exceptional blend of quantitative talent, financial curiosity, and strong communication skills. While we value prior finance experience, we highly welcome candidates from diverse analytical backgrounds such as mathematics, engineering, physics, and computer science.

Must-Have Skills

• Strong Quantitative Foundation – Exceptional mastery of probability, statistics, combinatorics, and mental mathematics.
• Analytical Problem Solving – Ability to break down ambiguous, unstructured problems into logical, data-driven frameworks.
• Effective Communication – Ability to articulate complex quantitative concepts and investment theses clearly and concisely, both in writing and verbally.
• Market Interest – A demonstrable passion for financial markets, investing, and economic trends.
• Mental Agility – Comfort working in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment where decisions must be made quickly with incomplete information.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Programming & Data Analysis – Familiarity with Python, R, or SQL for data manipulation and statistical modeling.
• Prior Research Experience – Previous internships or academic work in equity research, investment banking, or quantitative finance.
• Advanced Financial Knowledge – Understanding of options pricing theory, derivatives, and corporate capital structures.

Q: How difficult is the Online Assessment (OA), and how should I prepare for it? A: The OA is highly challenging, primarily due to strict time constraints. It typically consists of 17 to 20 questions to be completed in 60 minutes, focusing heavily on probability, combinatorics, and logic puzzles. To prepare, practice solving intermediate-level probability problems under timed conditions, ensuring you can calculate expected values and permutations quickly without a calculator.

Q: What is the culture like on the research team at SIG? A: Our culture is highly collaborative, flat, and intellectually rigorous. We value meritocracy and open debate over hierarchy. You will work directly with experienced traders and analysts who will challenge your ideas, but also invest heavily in your professional development and training.

Q: Do I need a background in finance or business to apply? A: No. While financial literacy is helpful, SIG is famous for its world-class internal training programs. We care far more about your core raw intelligence, mathematical intuition, and logical reasoning skills. We regularly hire top-tier graduates from STEM fields who have had little to no prior exposure to finance.

Q: How does the case study round work? A: The case study typically involves analyzing a specific company, market event, or financial scenario. You will be given a set of data or a prompt and asked to write a structured analysis or prepare a short presentation. We evaluate your ability to identify key drivers, apply probabilistic thinking, and communicate your conclusions under a deadline.

To stand out in the Susquehanna International Group interview process, you must demonstrate more than just technical competence. You must show that you think like a SIG analyst.

• Embrace Probabilistic Thinking: Never think in binary terms. When discussing stock pitches or market events, express your views in terms of probabilities, ranges of outcomes, and expected values.
• Show Your Work Out Loud: During technical rounds, do not sit in silence while solving a problem. Walk your interviewer through your logic. If you make a mistake, they want to see how you react, self-correct, and accept hints.
• Be Ready for Stress Testing: Our interviewers may adopt a challenging or skeptical tone. This is a deliberate stress test to see if you lose confidence or double down on a flawed premise. Remain calm, logical, and open to adjusting your model when presented with new facts.

• Understand Options and Volatility: Even if you are applying for a fundamental research role, SIG is a global powerhouse in options trading. Having a basic grasp of how options work and how volatility impacts pricing will give you a significant competitive edge.

The Research Analyst position at Susquehanna International Group is an extraordinary opportunity for analytical, quantitative minds to make a direct impact on global financial markets. By combining deep fundamental analysis with cutting-edge probabilistic frameworks, you will solve some of the most complex puzzles in modern finance.

To maximize your chances of success, focus your preparation heavily on probability fundamentals, market-making logic, and structuring a highly defensible stock pitch. Remember that we are looking for logical clarity, intellectual curiosity, and the resilience to perform under pressure.

The compensation data above reflects the competitive package offered to successful candidates. At SIG, we believe in rewarding performance, and our compensation structure is designed to attract and retain the world's top analytical talent. As you prepare, focus on demonstrating how your unique quantitative and research skills will drive value for our trading desks. You can explore additional interview insights, preparation strategies, and community resources directly on Dataford to ensure you are fully prepared to succeed. Good luck with your preparation!