RiskMetrics Reviews

Pros

RiskMetrics had a great, laid-back culture, nice people and very good benefits. Compensation was fair compared to other companies, and management generally showed respect for workers. The company seemed to promote a very strong work-life balance.

Cons

While the people were very friendly, the culture was sometimes dry--mostly because a lot of people lacked social skills. While I think it was a good place to work, there seemed to be few opportunities for advancement.

Advice to Senior Management

I think management should work a bit more on continued training and development of current employees and also offer more opportunities to younger, less experienced workers.

Pros

Great culture, very bright co-workers and good atmosphere.

Cons

Low pay and not clear direction for the company

Advice to Senior Management

Sell the company and make all the shareholders rich.

Pros

Just like living in a small town, working for a small organization provides employees with a chance to get to know and interact with all their coworkers

Cons

Though traditional benefit packages – insurance, vacation time off – are not always as generous with smaller employers,, this same group may have more flexibility when it comes to other perks such as flexible work schedules or working at home.

Advice to Senior Management

so far so good. But a long way to go. we need attract more talents from business schools. We need more junior people in the company.

Pros

The work life balance is pretty good since I was not micromanaged and could come and go as I wanted.

Cons

Management does not have much respect for a lot of the staff and does not show much respect for individuals.

Advice to Senior Management

You are not nearly as smart or slick as you think - the morale is not as good as you want to tell everyone it is.

Pros

great team, good and learned people around and a very collaborative environment

Cons

appraisal process, senior management direction less

Advice to Senior Management

take into consideration market opportunities and more freedom to analysts to work on new areas

Pros

RiskMetrics was a fun place to work. Open collaboration between groups from the CEO to Fianance to Managers to Sales, etc. Everyone has a say and managers listen.

Cons

The dynamics are different in each office, which is expected, however management seemed to want a one size fits all approach. In some respects this is difficult, as different offices have different cultures. One size does not fit all. The upper management says they're open and transparent but many decisions have come as a surprise. RiskMetrics has also just been acquired by MSCI.

Advice to Senior Management

It's actually advice to MSCI - don't try to merge RiskMetrics culture with your own - as we saw with the acquisition of ISS, it doesn't work. Like ripping off a band-aid, let employees know what you want/need and expect them to comply (I am sure many at RiskMetrics will disagree with that as culture was very important). When you try to merge two cultures, you end up with employees unhappy because they don't know what to expect.

Pros

The people are extremely smart, dedicated, curious, and humble and relaxed. That is changing with MSCI merger, but that legacy won't die too easily.

You are given the opportunity to run with your ideas.

Th culture is flat, and fun and relaxed, even thought it's Wall St.

Cons

Cost cutting is so aggressive and arbitrary that it canibalizes growth in business lines that really ought to be growing.

Lots of big promises that are consistently broken.

The pay is significantly below average.

Flat structure often means there are too many cooks to move things forward.

Emphasis on being respectful and empathetic, means that incompetent, conniving people who are also pretty nice guys, get promoted.

MSCI does not and will not recognize how much the culture keeps us loyal, and there is a massive exodus of talent which has begun and will not abate anytime soon

Advice to Senior Management

Pay people better. Judge businesses by their results rather than their mangers' charm offensives.
And ensure that MSCI doesn;t do to RiskMetrics what they did to Barra, (gut the culture superimpose a one-size fits all strategy, and subsequently trigger a year-on-year reduction in revenue and earnings.)

Pros

RiskMetrics has a very diverse group of employees from different cultural and professional background which makes for interesting conversations and interactions.

Cons

Decision-making is more driven by office politics and hearsay than by rational objectivity. There is little accountability for poor performance at upper managerial levels.

Advice to Senior Management

RMG should adopt a more qualitative approach to evaluating in-house talent and developing it and drop the heavy focus on head count. Not all apples are the same.

Pros

Fairness and kindness atmosphere as well as open working space.
People here respect each other no matter they are senior or entry level.

Cons

Pay is not as good as the others. Need more execution and entrepreneurship sometimes.
More trainning is needed for juniors.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more pragmatic and aggressive since we are very weak in these points.
And maybe title can help the company better organized.

Pros

RiskMetrics culture is one that allows employees to develop through collaboration with other teams. There is no division between groups, but more of a group effort to deliver a product. All offices have an open office layout, making management of all levels completely accessible.

Cons

RiskMetrics has historically suffered from a lack of focus in delivering superior products. The company has not been good about enforcing accountability. If a project fails, repeatedly, changes are slowly (if at all) effected.

Advice to Senior Management

It's too late to offer advice to management as RiskMetrics has now been acquired by another firm. One year ago, it would have been relevant to say that the company needed to focus on delivering new products that are superior to what has been pushed out for the past several years and that management changes needed to be made.