BlackRock Reviews

Pros

Global mobility
Small (compared to competitors)

Cons

Autocratic > despotic
Slightly chaotic
Everyone involved in everything

Advice to Senior Management

Need to loosen the reins a little

Pros

Professional environment, transparency of leadership, innovative

Cons

post-merger infrastructure a work in progress

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

BlackRock is the biggest fund manager on the block, so it has the potential for great scale and domination of the asset management business. There are a couple of good managers.

Cons

Working in the business may be better, but London IT is a sorry department to be in. Decent senior managers are like needles in a haystack. Every time we have a senior manager addressing us we hear how great everything is but it is normally a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. Central control from New York is a death grip. Autonomy is not tolerated. Experienced people are given trivial jobs to do to "prove themselves". Sharing of information between teams is poor. Documentation is inadequate - the "Aladdin Way" has to be prised from key developer's heads.

Advice to Senior Management

Let talented people make their own decisions. Learn how to plan ahead. If you are moving 2500 staff to a new building and changing operating system at the same time you need to allocate sufficient resources and time to it, and communicate things clearly. Having an emergency meeting to communicate what is happening AFTER people have started moving shows you are ill prepared.

Larry, you may be a great business leader, but IT is seriously disfunctional - we waste a lot of time building exactly what we are told by our senior management only to be told it is not needed anymore. IT decision making occurs after everything is built. People like to say No as they feel that shows that are protecting Aladdin. They are wasting money and time - they should set be capable of setting the direction up front.

Pros

Blackrock is a strong company and has the potential to advance any hard working individual into the right career path.

Cons

Some team members are more helpful than other in the beginning training. It's a fast paced trading environment so unless you have a short learning curve, you will fall behind.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide more insight to new employees on ways to improve their performance and offer one on one time to get feedback on what management can do to help a new employee.

Pros

Working with smartestr people in the industry

Cons

IT is behind other firms

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up thje good work

Pros

The people want to succeed

Cons

Long hours. The technology outside of Solutions is old.

Pros

THe company has a lot of smart people. It also pays very well. I liked my bonus. Also, the BlackRock name goes a long way in the industry.

Cons

There are relatively long hours but to be expected. The company is huge so its sometimes difficult to communicate with management

Pros

Friendly environment to work in.

Cons

Lack of communication between groups in IT.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate better!!!!!!!

Pros

Challenging and exciting work. Fast paced. Quality employees. Great proprietary systems. Top notch facilities. Good location locally. Respect given to all levels and departments.

Cons

Too fast paced at times. Work life balance issues persist. Global model makes for work seemingly 24/7 at times depending on role and department.

Pros

- Prestigious - if you're in New York. People outside this office often feel marginalized.
- Some very smart people work here.
- Compensation & benefits seem to be pretty decent for the industry.

Cons

- I reviewed BlackRock a year after they acquired BGI, optimistically observing that I hoped they'd reverse some of their troubling trends in talent mis-management. They haven't.
- People who have been laid off are leaving with huge smiles. The rest of us are actively looking for other jobs, and fortunately, we are starting to find them.
- A handful of people find their work at BlackRock challenging, interesting, and appropriate to their level of experience and seniority. But the majority of us are being paid to do essentially nothing.
- Senior management is still running an 8,000-person firm as if it's a small company. If C-level executives feel compelled to attend every project meeting, something is wrong.

Advice to Senior Management

Good luck. I really do hope this firm recovers and does well, because I have a great deal of respect for its employees.