When asked: "why are you interested in financial markets / asset management / investing" what should you answer?

You can say whatever you'd like. There are plenty of people who are in finance just because it pays well, just as many years ago plenty of people were in manufacturing or energy exploration because it paid well.I can't say that I get up every morning feeling like I'm "bankrolling human progress", because I'm not. I do think that asset management is important because people and institutions have financial goals, and those goals are far harder to achieve than most people realize. There are optimal ways of achieving one's goals, but financial markets and the various asset class portfolio management are far more complex than most people understand. I find it very interesting, for instance, when so many so-called experts stress that people should just invest in low-cost index funds or ETFs, without any degree of understanding as to how doing so, in the vehicles that the individual chooses, is going to help them achieve their goals. They might be appropriate, or not, depending on individual circumstances.I work in asset management partially for the money, but partially because I'm good at it. I'm exceptionally skilled at explaining to investors and advisors that yield and return are derived from risk, that risk should be managed properly, and that adding different risk to a portfolio in different measures is the only way to achieve most financial goals over time. Believe it or not, most investors -- even institutional investors -- don't get that all the time.By the way, it doesn't pay as much as you think. Even very skilled portfolio managers, traders and sales people are at the mercy of ignorant managers who don't know the businesses they oversee, and who are under constant pressure from even more senior management to keep costs down on a quarterly basis. In this case, the cost is compensation. So if that is your motivation, you may want to rethink your career goals.

I can't even begin telling you how many times I have had to answer this in multiple job interviews. Some of my good answers: Financial markets haven't been figured out even after more than a century of research. I want to make some sense of it. Most people don't understand how it works. That's make it interesting for me. The 'you eat what you kill' idea really appeals to me. I want to earn depending on how I perform. I feel safety in numbers. There's a lot of number crunching involved. Most people thinks good fund managers get lucky. I feel very confident when I can predict prices wifth a reasonable degree of confidence and accuracy. Each day is different and exciting. When other people trust you with their money, you become very responsible in life. It gives you indepth understanding of how different businesses and management structures work. It's a total meritocracy. Doesn't matter where you studied or what you studied. You understand the real meaning of risk. It tests your nerves and bring out the best in you. In a previous job, a co worker was a ex Indian Armt soldier. He had nerves of steel, nothing scared him, except the day he lost 10% of his portfolio.

Simply, people should be interested in finance because an important part of people's life depends on financial markets, just to name few of them: mortgages, pension funds, student loans, personal investments, etc.

I assume you are considering a job interview. I suggest that you should give the true answer. What you wrote sounds a lot better than most other answers I can think of.