Brevan Howard hires Trading Summer Intern and Graduate Trader. Candidates report 3 interview stages. Below: what each round tests and how to prepare, the timeline, roles and a 4-week prep plan, drawn from candidate reports and Brevan Howard's own recruiting pages.
Brevan Howard interview: quick answer
- Stages3
- Online assessmentAbout 20 min stated · 47 questions in 3 parts · finish within 3 days, resumable (candidate-reported)
- TimelineBrevan Howard says it reviews applications on a rolling basis and encourages a single global application.
- Final roundMarket-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews: Live game plus several short PM interviews (per public prep guides)
- RolesTrading Summer Intern, Graduate Trader
Preparing for Brevan Howard? Work the rounds in order in the free Brevan Howard interview funnel, or start with the free online-assessment sample (no signup).
The Brevan Howard interview process at a glance
| # | Round | Format and length | Prep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online Assessment | About 20 min stated · 47 questions in 3 parts · finish within 3 days, resumable (candidate-reported) | OA guidePractice |
| 2 | HR / Motivation Interview | Short call with HR (per public prep guides) | GuidePractice |
| 3 | Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews | Live game plus several short PM interviews (per public prep guides) | GuidePractice |
Stages are listed in the order candidates report them. Formats come from candidate reports and change between cycles, offices and teams; not every candidate sees every stage.
Every Brevan Howard round: what it tests and how to prepare
1Online Assessment
2027 Trading summer internship candidates report one three-part online assessment.
Work-style pairs (30): Two statements per item, a four-point choice (best or somewhat describes me, either side), on updating views on evidence, intuition versus analysis, enjoying hard thinking.
Numerical reasoning (15): Four-option questions on six data sets (employment and pay, airfares, sustainable fund assets, book sales and costs, accident rates, two charities' finances); many chart values show only on hover.
Written scenarios (2): Open text, no word limit: team conflict over strategy; deadline under heavy workload. Welcome screen: ~20 minutes, within 3 days of the invite, resumable from emailed link, no timer shown. Our replica: 15 numerical questions. Warm up: mental math.
How to prepare
- Read charts precisely. Values are hover-only, so estimate from the axis carefully and check which option is nearest; several answers hinge on small differences.
- Watch the question's basis. Growth in absolute terms and growth in percentage terms can give different answers on the same chart.
- Answer the pairs consistently. Similar themes recur across the 30 pairs; contradicting yourself is the real risk.
Brevan Howard online assessment guide →Practice this round →
2HR / Motivation Interview
Public prep guides describe a short, non-technical conversation after the assessments: why Brevan Howard, how you follow markets and what sets you apart. Some reports place it between a coding test and the behavioral assessment for other tracks. Prepare with behavioral questions for trading firms.
How to prepare
- Know the firm's style. Discretionary macro, PM-led; say which markets you follow and why.
- Have one market story ready. A recent move in rates or FX and what drove it.
3Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews
Public prep guides describe a market-making game where you quote two-way prices on uncertain quantities and react to trades, followed by several short interviews with portfolio managers on macro views, your projects and rates or FX knowledge, with a trade idea you can defend. Rehearse with Make a Market, the card market table and the market-making game guide.
- A market-making game is reported for trading candidates, but no source describes its format in detail.
- Expect interviews with portfolio managers and team members.
How to prepare
- Quote around expected value and adjust. Start wide when unsure, tighten as information arrives, and keep track of your position.
- Bring one trade idea you can defend. Thesis, entry, what would prove you wrong and how you would size it.
Full Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews guide →Practice this round →
Practice the Brevan Howard rounds in order
Each round in the Brevan Howard funnel has its own practice set, with worked solutions and progress tracking. A free account saves your progress across rounds.
Timeline
Brevan Howard says it reviews applications on a rolling basis and encourages a single global application.
Intern vs full-time
The ten-week internship is designed to feed the following year's graduate intake.
A 4-week Brevan Howard prep plan
Built from the order of Brevan Howard's rounds and the topics in each round's practice set. Compress it if your first interview is sooner.
| When | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Foundations | Review probability and expected value, the topics that dominate Brevan Howard's practice sets. Work the easy and medium questions in the Brevan Howard question set. |
| Week 2 | Early rounds: Online Assessment and HR / Motivation Interview | Practice the screening topics under time pressure, and take the free OA sample (format notes in the OA guide). Add a daily mental-math drill. Talk every answer through out loud; interviewers score the reasoning. |
| Week 3 | Later rounds: Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews | Move to the harder final-round topics. Rehearse quoting markets with the Make a Market game and read the market-making game guide. Read how quant superdays work. |
| Week 4 | Rehearse the full loop | Run each practice round in order, redo the questions you missed, and prepare two project stories plus a specific answer to "why Brevan Howard?" (see behavioral questions at trading firms). |
Brevan Howard teams and what their interviews test
This page follows the Trading summer internship. Public reports suggest other tracks can receive a coding test instead of, or in addition to, the assessment described here.
| Tracks | What it does | What its interviews test |
|---|---|---|
| Trading Summer Internship Trader / PM | Discretionary macro trading across rates, FX, credit and commodities. | Multi-part online assessment, then (per public reports) HR, a market-making game and PM interviews. |
About Brevan Howard
| Firm type | Global macro hedge fund |
|---|---|
| Trading style | Portfolio-manager-led discretionary trading · Discretionary macro: rates, FX, credit, commodities |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | London |
| Other offices | New York, Abu Dhabi, Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jersey, Austin, Bengaluru |
| Assets under management | Private (client capital) |
| Official steps | Virtual assessments, role-specific technical interviews or case studies, then interviews with the business area, per Brevan Howard |
| Internship length | 10 weeks |
Culture
Brevan Howard is a discretionary global macro manager organized around portfolio managers, best known for rates and fixed income trading. Its summer internship runs about ten weeks and is meant to feed the following year's graduate intake.
What the interviews feel like
The first screen is about how you think and work rather than trading knowledge: personality pairs on open-minded thinking and appetite for hard problems, quick chart reading, and written judgement calls. Later rounds, per public reports, turn to markets: quoting prices in a market-making game and defending a macro view or trade idea with PMs.
Practice for Brevan Howard on QuantVault
Practice
Courses
Games and drills
Further reading
- Market-making game interview guide
- Behavioral questions at trading firms
- Mental math for trading interviews
- How quant superdays work
- The quant interview process, explained
Similar firms to compare
Firms with a similar business and interview style. Many candidates interview at several of them in the same cycle.
Sources and how this guide is built
- Updated October 20, 2026; firm data last reviewed October 9, 2026.
- Round detail draws on candidate interview reports collected by QuantVault.
- Brevan Howard's own pages: Brevan Howard careers.
- Public candidate reports and outside interview guides are cross-checked against each other. Where they disagree the page says "reports differ"; details from a single source are marked as candidate reports.
- No actual interview questions are reproduced on this page. The questions, with worked solutions, are in the practice rounds.
Brevan Howard interview FAQ
How many rounds are in the Brevan Howard interview?
Candidates report 3 stages: Online Assessment, HR / Motivation Interview, Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews. The exact number varies by cycle and team.
Is there an online assessment at Brevan Howard?
Candidates report one: About 20 min stated · 47 questions in 3 parts · finish within 3 days, resumable (candidate-reported). 2027 Trading summer internship candidates report one three-part online assessment. Work-style pairs (30): Two statements per item, a four-point choice (best or somewhat describes me, either side), on updating views on evidence, intuition versus analysis, enjoying hard thinking.
What happens in the Brevan Howard final round?
Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews (Live game plus several short PM interviews (per public prep guides)). Public prep guides describe a market-making game where you quote two-way prices on uncertain quantities and react to trades, followed by several short interviews with portfolio managers on macro views, your projects and rates or FX knowledge, with a trade idea you can defend.
How should I prepare for the Brevan Howard interview?
Prepare round by round over about four weeks: foundations first, then the early rounds (Online Assessment, HR / Motivation Interview, Market-Making Game + Portfolio Manager Interviews), then the later rounds, then a full rehearsal. Each round has its own practice set on QuantVault, and the online assessment has a dedicated guide.
What does Brevan Howard do?
Brevan Howard is a global macro hedge fund headquartered in London.
Do I need a macro trade pitch for Brevan Howard?
It is expected for investment seats, but it is not a rule for every role.
Can I apply to several Brevan Howard programmes?
Brevan Howard encourages one global application.
How long is the Brevan Howard internship?
Ten weeks.
Start preparing for Brevan Howard
Open the interactive Brevan Howard interview funnel: every stage with its practice set, from the first screen to the final round. Create a free account to save your progress.