Federated Investors Reviews

Pros

Conservative culture but very cordial and professional. If you are looking for a place htat has never had layoffs Fed is the place for you.

Cons

Defnetly not the most comfortable place for gays or minorities as most employees are caucasian and Catholic suburban and married.

Advice to Senior Management

I think the management at Federated is great. I have nothing but the highest respect or them and their leadership abilities.

Pros

The most secure job you can have. Decent technology. Recently, there have been some very competent managers. Managable size teams. Some knowlegable folks.

Cons

Politics like everywhere else. Have to fight for everything. Animosity everywhere. Extremely process oriented. Lots of incompetent ppl. both in Management and technology.

Advice to Senior Management

Please promote the right ppl. Look beyond first level management for solutions. I believe there are a lot more things that can be accomplished (especially from the technology front). There also needs to be focus on doing something right rahter than several things mediocre.

Pros

Good people, no travel, flexible hours

Cons

Alot of management with little leadership

Pros

its uniform and very conservative

Cons

management communication is very poor

Advice to Senior Management

listen

Pros

Hours are light. A lot of independence and flexibility. Generally nice people to work with. Not a bad place to be if you want to be in Pittsburgh.

Cons

No corporate pride. Employees lack drive. Poor job up building up younger employees. Can be pretty boring. Ultra-concervative culture - suits for men and dresses for women (they've relaxed this a bit).

Advice to Senior Management

Introducing meritocracy into the culture would be a big positive. Promotions without pay increases isnot the most effective motivational tool. If you want good people, you have to pay for them.

Pros

decent money
floor managers are good people
great co-workers
great place to have on your resume right out of college

Cons

monotonous tasks
difficult to push fii products - constantly new ones available
sometimes responsible for defending fii reputation when you weren't there to know what really happened

Advice to Senior Management

n/a

Pros

The organization is very good. Family like environment. Very nice people. Lots of them long timers and for a good reason. An ideal place for someone looking for 9-5 work without much ambitions.

Cons

Department I work on has incompetent management. They never gell and everyon has a seperate agenda. Hard work will not get you anywhere. For a mid size company, it's very easy to hide, not perform and yet survive.

Advice to Senior Management

I'd someone to take a closer look at all department heads and assess competency. Need a better structure and growth patterns for its employees.

Pros

Management is pretty understanding about taking time off. They often do simple things for employees, like providing free coffee everyday and occasionally buying lunch, that are genuinely nice. It's not at all a "cut throat" place to work (particularly for a financial company)

Cons

If you plan on being a driven employee and/or possess an entreprener's spirit, this is not the place to work. There is an incredible amount of bureaucracy at the company, and it acts like a weed that strangles competitive employees. There is also a great deal of nepotism. Many people who exhibit poor motivation are employed in important positions because of the people they're related to, and it has a dramatic effect on the company's performance. It's not a terrible place to work, but the place seems to encourage mediocrity. Also, pay is extremely low relative to other companies in the industry.

Advice to Senior Management

Many of the actions seem to be "pennywise but pound foolish". They need to offer benefits and salaries that are more in line with the industry average to attract and retain quality employees. They also need to do things to foster a healthy competitive spirit amongst the employees.

Pros

Everyone at the company is nice and respectful. A lot of companies pride themselves on their people; at Federated, it really is the case that the people are its greatest asset. Another benefit is that the hours are reasonable -- rarely do you work more than 40 hours a week.

Cons

The company is very slow and behind technologically. Furthermore, a lot of the people (though nice) are old. People at Federated stay there for what seems like forever. Almost everyone you meet has been there for at least 10 years. The pay is not exceptionally high. Advancement is largely based on seniority rather than performance.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't try to transplant the organizational culture overseas; the company is having a lot of issues with their foreign market and part of the problem seems to be the strong org culture that Federated maintains. Also, hirer young, bright minds...it would bring an innovative edge to a company that is living in the past.

Pros

Decent Salary
Decent hours
Most of your coworkers are pleasant.
With most employees having been there a decade plus it is hard to feel like you fit in.

Cons

Poor leadership
Late feedback
Lack of motivation from management.
Lack of support during cross functional projects
IT group needs larger staff and budget to support the rest of the business adequately

Advice to Senior Management

Work with all levels of management to ensure your better policies are being implemented for all employees as opposed to a select few who are in managements good graces.