Pros

It is great place to work for software engineers. Huge IT department with a lot of talented people. People are nice and team work oriented.

Cons

The company is becoming very large as a result of the merger with BlackRock. Role for each individual may become smaller.

Advice to Senior Management

none.

Pros

Nice office building with well-equipped conference rooms comes to mind first. Solid communication from upper upper management on direction, strategy. Regular group celebrations at macro level.

Cons

Don't expect much recognition or praise for your contributions. Middle management is unsophisticated in motivating teams with strong tendency towards tactical execution and not forward-thinking strategy.

Advice to Senior Management

There is a lot of important work being done in eBusiness Management that is taken for granted and not publicized. Bonus amounts were largely down this year and everyone's working like dogs. Something has to give.

Pros

Collegial, smart and friendly people. Not at all a cut-throat investment banking culture, and open door policies are typically the norm.

Cons

Very internalized in terms of its thinking. Disparate cultures, with some not understanding the new world (move away from active equity towards ETFs). Need to think more externally, spend more time listening with clients, avoiding ego and introducing better management discipline.

Advice to Senior Management

Good luck with the integration. It's going to be a rude awakening for many adopting BlackRock's more client-centric approach and focus on business discipline. Beef up the leadership presence in San Francisco - it's woeful, and will be needed with the BlackRock acquisition and transition of power center from San Francisco to New York.

Pros

Employees can be well compensated (depending on your manager). It is a collegiate place to work with nice people. It's an intellectual environment with focus on scientific investing and not much focus on leadership skills such as ability to effectively communicate, ability to challenge the norm to resolve issues and ability to manage people. The company has good medical, dental, family leave and vacation benefits compared to other US companies.

Cons

The company has become very hierarchical and senior managers are improperly incented to protect their expense lines rather than to focus on overall company profitability. The company culture is also very non-confrontational so managers are afraid to give direct feedback and employees are afraid to speak up or question authority. There is a great deal of inconsistency in how employees are incented, compensated and treated which leads to different cultures depending on which group you are in. Senior management is very weak and unable to make tough decisions. They make layoff decisions, budget cuts and budget targets at a high level and then spread them evenly across all groups rather than taking into account true growth or non-growth areas. This leads to a tactical approach and disparate infrastructure.

Advice to Senior Management

Make the tough decision!! Look at what units, products and areas which are profitable/not profitable and invest accordingly. Instead you take a peanut-butter approach and spread those decisions evenly or leave it to a political decision so true strategy is not considered.

Pros

Used to be prestigious. Relatively stress free. Work around 60 hrs/wk.
Casual, academic culture.
Friendly in the trenches. Great place to learn.

Cons

Poor performance. Low morale.
Senior management lacks accountability.
Every re-org shuffles the middle, while the top remains hopelessly.
Intellectually snobby (think Boston).

Advice to Senior Management

take a hike, and leave us alone

Pros

Talented people
Good pay package & benefits

Cons

Poor leadership and management
Lack of career progression
Doesn't inspire team based culture

Advice to Senior Management

Need to have a flatter management structure, empower employees and involve them in decision making.

Pros

Able to work with intelligent people who like to have fun. The environment has changed over the years but a lot of what makes BGI a great place to work is the tolerance for a mixture of the past and the future. In the main managers care about their teams and work hard to develop and reward them even in difficult years. You can be yourself - conformity isnt necessary but you must be great at what you do. Opportunities to develop knowledge, skill and your career are available if you perform well.

Cons

Senior management struggle with providing enough communication at the right level. They are working on this but more is needed. We are in a transition to BlackRock and whilst we continue to work hard to keep the comany successful its difficult to keep focused when the end of BGI as an independent entity is so close.

Advice to Senior Management

work hard to keep some of what made BGI great at BlackRock - make sure tht you reward strong performance. Keep working on how you communicate. Run an employee survey we havent seen one for 2 years - find out what is concerning people

Pros

BGI has been a boon to my career, allowing me to advance up the chain steadily through the years. The pay is good, the industry perhaps not so much.

Cons

The personnel hired over the last few years have transformed the company into a shark tank. The competition is fierce and that attitude comes from the top down.

Advice to Senior Management

As the transition to Blackrock matures, don't forget the people that made the institution what it is today. Keep them, retrain them if necessary, and reward them as you have been.

Pros

Unique place -- academic, innovative, smart, nice. San Francisco an amazing place to work and live. Good investment in people, culture. Great products.

Cons

Was just sold, so everything that made BGI unique will inevitably change. Time will tell how much, but new owner is another big success story.

Advice to Senior Management

Become more commercially savvy, so innovation is not just for the sake of innovation. Keep strong SF presence post acquisition.

Pros

intelligent people who want to get on with the job in hand
on the whole there is flexibility and understanding about work life balance
comp is Ok , but not the best - often its the relationships within the company that keep people

Cons

benefits are not great when compared to some other financial institutions
schism between London and and San Fran to the point where you do not have a career unless you are in SF. This leads to a one sided view of the world
there is a tendency of some who have been at BGI for a long time to want their way to win out rather than work as part of the team - often very detrimental to the ompany

Advice to Senior Management

make decisions for the long term and stick to them
invest in technology and process
don't play favourites - reward true acheivement