Bessemer Trust Company Reviews

Pros

Great benefits, including time off. Good opportunity for advancement and job security.

Cons

Atmosphere can be a little old school at times.

Advice to Senior Management

None.

Pros

People come here to stay here.

Cons

Senior management overall not very knowledgeable. Pay is sub-par for industry. Nepotism. Extremely political environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Our mgmt does not understand that communication is imperative. A simple thank you goes a long way - especially when operations, client account managers, and custody are truly the ones maintaining the day to day activity in client portfolios.

Pros

The office is like a family. Although, it may be very political, it is a great place to get comfortable. I look forward to seeing most of my coworkers when I wake up in the morning.

Cons

There is literally no room for advancement in comparison to many other places. Concerns are completely ignored and recognition is rare and far between.

Advice to Senior Management

If you recognize how valuable your employees are during review time, it might be fair to reward them. Without the reward of either a higher than normal raise or a promotion, the recognition on the review means absolutely NOTHING.

Pros

There are LOTs of perks and employee benefits. Private cafeteria with deeply discounted prices, good food and an executive chef, company paid health care for the entire family. People come here and stay for a long time. There is opportunity to growth, education is encouraged and educational opportunities are abundant. The people are open and friendly. It seems like a lot of people start here right out of college and stay. So far I have not met any diva managers. The one or 2 that were here were quickly gone. There are frequent job openings with lots of incentives for employees to recommend friends.

Cons

This place can be kind of stuffy and formal. There is no such thing as casual Friday. Some people insist on being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. so and so. The starting salary was a little low, but once you add in other perks its fine.

Advice to Senior Management

Honestly I don't know of any advice that I would offer to management. I really like this place. Despite the fact that it's very formal, people are open and friendly. Employees are genuinely happy to work here (for the most part).

Pros

Decent salary, professional work environment, top shelf benefits

Cons

Very political culture that doesn't reward actual competence . Difficult asset allocation models designed more for legacy trust accounts than to fit individual situations. As an account manager you have very little leeway to customize your account management process.

Advice to Senior Management

Become more nimble

Pros

This is a great job for any FA tired of building a book of business at a conventional Broker/Dealer. You get a nice office in a beautiful building. You don't have to hear other FAs pounding the table all day. In our current economy-- you should be able to sleep better knowing that your clients are at a small, private, well capitalized bank-- even if the investment returns and strategy are generally sub-par compared to the competition . The Peets coffee is always fresh and hot, and it’s basically a SAFE place to work for a meek person without a tongue.

Cons

BEWARE, this organization is very political. After the first few weeks on the job-- I knew my days were numbered. I bit my tongue for as long as I could as my wife was pregnant and needed the benefits. My story there is a long one, lasted about 2 years, but the general cons are this place is run from the top down and senior management doesn't really seem to understand the investment business very well. The Trust business is run very well!!!--- relative to the competition. A new rising star in the company show a lot of promise (GW) on the investment front. This is a private investment company, and its run that way.

Advice to Senior Management

The current employee base is fairly unremarkable. You will forever be struggling to achieve your goals with your current employees and its due primarily to the fact that they are basically automatons. The ones that last are politically savvy survive and advance over the years—but from my 2 year working knowledge—very few Client account managers are any better than paper pushers, nowhere near the best in the business. You will forever be outclassed and outsmarted by Goldman etc for the best accounts. While you have a stable culture (which is very important in the Trust business), the client account teams are very mediocre.

Pros

the people and the environment are some of the best in the industry
opportunity to learn a lot
good pay

Cons

the work is a little complicated and takes time/diligence to understand
try to learn it yourself or at home
cafeteria is not that great but cheap

Advice to Senior Management

put a microwave in the kitchen
other than that, I have no advice
you are some of the best people around