Barclays Global Investors Reviews

Pros

great situation with great people there are something always available for you to do to achive. friend people and great help everywhere.

Cons

nnoisy everywhere. people are encouraged to work all the time. there is less time to have a rest. you feel bored sometimes.

Advice to Senior Management

great situation with great people there are something always available for you to do to achive. friend people and great help everywhere.

Pros

The company's reputation holds a great deal of value in the investment market. However, their infrastructure does not promote cross functional training, movement, nor the ability to mentor/mentee others outside of the business groups

Cons

The company is very political and hard to maneuver if you are not willing to sacrifice your integrity for the organization. They make internal organizational changes without regard how it affects others outside the group

Advice to Senior Management

Management should really focus on their employees and provide the right leadership to continue to grow their biggest asset (employees).

Pros

Well known company
large enough for people to move within the company
good benefits
company promotes work life balance
promotes efficiency
offered a lot of professional development training

Cons

location is south of market, a bit far away from the financial district

Advice to Senior Management

professional development training nearly came to a halt when the economy was in a slump

Pros

Not only do you manage money, but you are part of a team that manages the largest pool of assets in the world. in addition, BGI pays for you to get smart -- generously reimburse MBA, CFA, etc.

Cons

Can get a bit monotonous at times, sometimes bordering boring... Project work can vary and add interest, but the key is to manage your funds to its benchmark (yawn)

Advice to Senior Management

Information sharing / training really needs to improve. Lead people seem guarded in sharing information as they seem to be protecting themselves. Instead, if they trusted & shared, they could get so much more out of being a senior member of team (not like the good ol' days)

Pros

Prior to the Blackrock's acquisition, BGI was a good place to work. Employees were generally rewarded for hard work, job benefits were above average, bonus was competitive (assuming the investment market performed well).

Cons

BGI was a good place to work, until Blackrock acquired it. Certainly with acquisitions one could expect more change and uncertainity, however Blackrock's approach has certainly focused on cost savings, lacked transparency and inspiration. Little was done to retain BGI talent.

Advice to Senior Management

I thought Blake Grossman was a solid CEO of BGI and certainly managed the firm to strong financial results over his tenure. It was disappointing that Mr. Grossman could not distinguish himself to the Barclays board, outside of Bob Diamond.

Pros

When it came to developing software, BGI did a better job than some of the software companies I've worked for. BGI was trying to put development processes into place which is certainly better than no process.

Cons

BGI used to be a great place to work until they were bought out by BlackRock. BlackRock dragged BGI 5 years back. Process got dumped out the window.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the employees instead of your own ego.

Pros

Great environment.
Friendly and open culture.
Opportunity for growth.
Flexibility to express.
Nice people.
Good Management.
Family Oriented Organisation.
Good remuneration benefits.

Cons

Have been acquired.
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Advice to Senior Management

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Pros

Good support system and salary upgrades were very useful for someone starting out for myself. Enjoyed my time for the most part.

Cons

Looked down upon for just starting out.

Advice to Senior Management

Allow your employees to use their own stregnths in order to grow their business. Your methods don't work for everyone.

Pros

Strong corporate culture, management's implicit trust in employees, visible employee pride in working at BGI, competitive benefits package, reputation of firm.

Cons

Consensus-driven decision-making slowed innovation; promotion criteria unequally applied throughout firm; cross-functional career movement was implicitly encouraged, but not actively supported.

Advice to Senior Management

Corporate culture and intellectual capital of employees was the most critical success factor for BGI. Keeping employees engaged, appropriately utilized, and eager to come to work will be essential for future endeavors.

Pros

An organisation full of talented people, who respect and appreciates one another for who they are. One of the least political places to work in within the financial sector.

Cons

Some interesting choice of hires for senior management. They are very strong leaders in place, but some choices are far from desirable.

Advice to Senior Management

Extend the ability for junior and midlevel managers to pick up more responsibilities. WIth empowerment, they have the potential to go a long long way.