Columbia Management Group Reviews

Pros

solid core business, solid products offered to the community

Cons

tough to get a broad understanding of the company

Advice to Senior Management

none

Pros

Management realized that being on the phones kind of sucks and they tried to get everyone involved in project work that allowed them to get off the phone

Cons

It is a call center. heavy monitoring. but manager did call review instead of surveys. Call volume is also a factor. the more calls you took the better

Advice to Senior Management

You are doing a good job so please keep it up. It is too bad you moved out of denver

Pros

Great manufacturing/asset mng capabilities of PM teams

Cons

Bank of America is dragging the organization down

Advice to Senior Management

Find a business partner that values our business or attempt to go independent.

Pros

It got me out of a job that I hated even more.

Cons

If you start in the wrong department it can lead you down a deadend street.

Advice to Senior Management

1. Don't wait until mid-March to tell the associates in Operations that they will not be getting any merit increases for the year.
2. Don't promote an associate and tell them that you can't give them the increase they deserve right now but when its time for merits and annual bonuses you will be taken care of.
3. When the market crashes and BAC stock tanks don't give out bonuses to certain departments and not even give merits to others.

Pros

It is a large asset management organization, and management is trying to be more responsive to employees. They were making strides in trying to improve employee morale, although there is still a lot to be done. There are advancement opportunities in such a large organization, but it is a fairly political place. For employees in well-run groups, it can be a good place to work. You do have the opportunity to learn a lot if you are in a good group, but you should be very careful of the group you chose to work in. Bank of America has generous employee benefits, which is definitely a plus.

Cons

Because the company is so large, it can be really bureaucratic. In such a large company, the group you work in is really important. Because the company is so large, horrible managers are tolerated longer than they might be in smaller organizations. Bank of America tries to run their investment management group like any other part of the bank, but it is a very different business. Employee turnover is incredibly high, my group turned over every 18 months or so. Employees were not treated well at all, and most employees equated working there as more like working for a custodian bank than an investment management firm.

Advice to Senior Management

Evaluate the overall management of the asset management business. It is a very different business than running a commercial bank.