Brandes Investment Partners Reviews

Pros

Strong technology, strong IT experience level, clear vision, great location, fair pay, good leadership, flexible hours (somewhat), cross team growth opprotunities

Cons

Slow growth opprotunities, limited technology, pigeun holed at times for some projects (which in turn limits personal growth) bad traffic commuting to and from work can be really bad at times.

Advice to Senior Management

work harder to align employee personal goals with department goals, monitor condfidence levels as well and try to keep technology knowledge shared so that individuals can divide the workloads.

Pros

Brandes Investment Partners has a great undergraduate Operations Internship program. At the end of the year, it gives the intern the opportunity to present a PowerPoint presentation on proposals to processes and the like to the Operations Division managers. I also noticed that there was cross-training between the departments of the Operations Division, which is a great way to develop the employees professional expertise.

Cons

Brandes Investment Partners recruits at San Diego State University, from my knowledge, which I did not attend. It would be great if Brandes recruited at other nearby universities - USD and UCSD.

Advice to Senior Management

Base the merits of an employee by their performance, professionalism, and personality. Do not play favorites. Listen to the complaints, comments, and praises of the employees and communicate with the group on how to improve on the flaws and increase the great qualities.

Pros

- Great work environment: very laid back, great hours, employees treated well
- Intelligent coworkers and collegial environment
- Interesting work for the first year or two; you'll learn about the industry that you cover
- Brandes seems to do a good job at graduate school placement (Chicago, Columbia, Stanford, etc.)
- I enjoy going to work every day and it often doesn't feel like work

Cons

- No advancement opportunities for Research Associates
- Work duties remain static and work becomes repetitive after 1-2 years
- Compensation is low to average, but management thinks it's very high
- Compensation doesn't vary much between high and mediocre performers
- Tenured professor mentality among some analysts which lowers morale and eliminates advancement opportunities for associates

Advice to Senior Management

Program structure needs to change; graduates don't want four years of the same job without any increase or changes in responsibilities. "We're located in San Diego" is not a strong selling point.

Pros

If you're patient and work hard, you will be rewarded. As they have grown larger and more successful, there have been many opportunities for employees and I've seen many rewarded, promoted, and go on to very successful careers. Management has great integrity and morals. They are disciplined investors with a great business model and solid executive committee. I never hesitate to recommend them as an employer.

Cons

They are a private employer and are very private so not a lot of employees know just how generous the company is. There is a sense among some employees that they are entitled. But most seem to understand - they have incredibly low turnover. Thus, it is hard to get a job here.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep it up!

Pros

Great benefits, great people, great track record.

Cons

Very high stress. Some people become ill due to stress and alot of that is brought on by domineering management that keeps you in the dark and puts fear of God into you. Like I said, make sure you are in right department.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop being so secretive. Some of the ways you have treated loyal employees on the way out is just plain wrong. Lives have been ruined due to ego problems in management. Very sad.

Pros

It's a great first job out of college. It is very difficult to find a true buyside research position right when you graduate, and they have a great structure and training program for new research associates. You also get to work at a big fund, with plenty of very smart people, and international exposure.

Cons

There is just not much opportunity for growth for the Associate position. 4 years without possibility of promotion is a tough one to swallow, especially if you're any decent at what you do. It also pigeon holds you to a specific sector, and there is very little autonomy to do any projects you want to do.

Pay is also a negative. It's quite low for the industry. It's sad when for your first 4 years, you'll be making less than accountants and IT personnel, among others.

Advice to Senior Management

A little bit of change is good. The market has changed. A lot.