EYP Financial Services - Strategy and Execution

Hi there,

Cases to prepare. EY-Parthenon is a strategy house, so the core is standard strategy casing - treat your prep the same as you would for MBB/Tier-2: market sizing, market entry, growth, profitability, and M&A/commercial due diligence. CDD is especially worth drilling because it's bread-and-butter for EY-P (a PE client considering a target: is the market attractive, is the company well-positioned, what are the risks). For the Financial Services angle specifically, get comfortable with the basics of how banks, insurers, asset managers and payments players make money - revenue drivers, cost structure, the effect of regulation and interest rates. You don't need deep technical finance, but a case set in a retail bank or insurer shouldn't throw you. Solid mental math and clean structuring matter as much as the framework.

Process (confirm the exact steps with your recruiter, as it shifts). Typically: online application/ CV screen, sometimes an online test or numerical assessment, then interview rounds mixing case and fit, usually building up to interviews with more senior staff (Principals/ Partners) in the final round. For the German offices, expect that they'll want to see you can operate in German if the role requires it - clarify early whether your interviews and casework will be in German or English, and if German, do at least one mock in German so the vocabulary is fluent under pressure.

Other tips. Have a crisp "why EY-Parthenon, why Financial Services, why this office" - they'll test genuine interest in the sector, not just generic strategy motivation. Prepare fit stories (leadership, drive, conflict, impact) with the same seriousness as cases. And know your own CV cold: FS strategy interviewers often probe your background for real analytical depth.

Happy to run a mock case or pressure-test your "why FS / why EY-P" story if useful.

Best,

Leo

As a Senior Manager and interviewer in Financial Services consulting, I would prepare along two dimensions: Strategy Consulting fundamentals + Financial Services knowledge.

1. Strategy Consulting cases
EY-Parthenon is a strategy consultancy, so the fundamentals need to be strong. I would prepare classic case types such as:

• Market entry / growth strategy
• Profitability and performance improvement
• M&A / commercial due diligence
• Transformation / operating model

The key is not memorizing frameworks, but being able to structure an ambiguous problem, form hypotheses, work with numbers and derive a clear management recommendation.

2. Financial Services fundamentals
Since the role is specifically FS, I would definitely expect some industry knowledge. Depending on your experience level, questions can go from basic to quite advanced. For banking, for example:

• How does a bank make money?
• What does a bank’s balance sheet look like?
• How does a bank fund/refinance itself?
• What are the most important revenue and cost drivers and KPIs?

I would apply the same logic to insurance and asset management – at least understand the core business models and economics.

3. Regulation & industry specifics
Financial Services in DACH is highly regulated, and we regularly test whether candidates understand this environment. I would know the key regulators, major regulatory frameworks and relevant regulatory ratios/KPIs – not necessarily every detail, but enough to understand their impact on the business model.

My recommendation would therefore be: first make sure your classic strategy cases are strong, then practice applying the same problem-solving skills specifically to banks, insurers and asset managers. The more experienced the position you are interviewing for, the deeper I would expect the FS knowledge to be.

The exact process varies by office, but I'd prepare as you would for any Tier 2 strategy consulting interview, with a bit more emphasis on financial services.

On the case side, I'd expect topics such as:

• growth strategy for a bank or insurer
• profitability improvement
• operating model / organizational transformation
• digital transformation
• customer strategy
• cost optimization
• product or distribution strategy

Since it's the Strategy & Execution team, don't be surprised if the discussion goes beyond "what should the client do?" into "how would you actually implement it?"

For the fit part, make sure you have strong answers to:

• Why EY-Parthenon?
• Why Financial Services?
• Why Strategy & Execution?
• Walk me through your CV.

If you already have experience in FS, be prepared to discuss your projects in detail, including your personal contribution and the impact you had.

One final tip: don't overcomplicate the cases. Interviewers are usually looking for clear, structured thinking and good business judgment rather than exotic frameworks or deep banking knowledge. If your fundamentals are solid, you'll be in a good position.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation from EY-Parthenon!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, contrary to what other coaches have said, I would strongly advise against trying to optimize the preparation effort, besides that it's useless, because there really are no more or less common case study question types. Instead, you should prepare in a way to be ready to solve any case study.
• Moreover, unfortunately, it is unlikely to receive precise answers on the current interview process in this forum. Instead, it is your task to reach out to the recruiter and inquire about it - if they haven't told you upfront, it's up to you to find out.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming EY-Parthenon interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen