Western Asset Management Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Western Asset Management full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – The people, the food, the atmosphere

Cons – No vertical movement, same sad story every year

Advice to Senior Management – Cultivate young employees w/ new opportunities and incentives

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Western Asset Management

Pros – Perks, benefits were good. FSA is a plus since the company give that to you. Office building looks nice inside and out. The caferia is nice and food is subsidize. There are definitely opportunitiies / and good pay but depends which part of the organization group you fall under.

Cons – There are not too many bad things to say about the firm. All other reviews that are complaining about the organization probably worked in the back office which has little credibility. Only thing I can say is to hire better employees and better work life balance.

Advice to Senior Management – All those I used to work with keep up the good work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Western Asset Management full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Trying hard to keep its collegial image and good reputation in the asset management industry. Benefits are good but few managers are good to their employees.

Cons – Decision making is rash and poorly communicated to staff. Declining bonus pool with reduced AUM. No career direction or training, having more of a sink or swim mentality.

Advice to Senior Management – Legg Mason getting too much revenue for doing too little, so need to separate from them. Provide a career path and try to empower staff...micro-management and un constructive criticism is diminishing employee self worth and destroying the once great culture. Managers need more training.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Western Asset Management full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great place to work and you have outstanding benefits. Work/Life balance is amazing for an asset manager. This would be a great place to end the last 10-20 years of a career if you worked at all the big names early on.

Cons – Compensation is low relative to the industry. Promotions happen but you have to wait until your annual review before you see an adjustment. Very unfair.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide a better remuneration package for top performers and issue raises when a promotion occurs versus providing them at the end of the fiscal year.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Western Asset Management full-time

Pros – Excellent benefits and competitive pay. Overall, a wonderful business culture to work in, especially for a company in the wealth management industry. I was fortunate to be able to work with some very talented people in my department where it was extremely team-focused and I never witnessed any backstabbing or individual competition within my particular group. Great place to network, and very open to promoting from within.

Cons – Executive managers did not come across as very approachable. Many people I knew who worked in certain departments had never met or seen the CEO, even though we all worked in the same office building.

Advice to Senior Management – Executive level management should be more visible to the employees -- not just with your senior managers, but everyone.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Western Asset Management full-time

Pros – As title says, good place to start if your a recent college grad. You will learn a lot your first 6 months to a year. Laid back company culture. "Bank Hours"....you will not be spending your nights or weekends at the office. Great cafeteria.

Cons – Terrible pay but worse no career path. IS department was a revolving door of people w/ 2-3 yrs experience (b/f fin crisis at least) and management wants it that way. My Advice - company will pay for exams like CFA or graduate school. Take advantage of that and look for a new job once complete.

Advice to Senior Management – Develop a real career path program to provide guidance to jr employees which allows them to transcend departments. Trash superficial mentorship program if still in existence. Much more employees including myself would have stayed if they thought they had an actual career path.

Former Employee – worked at Western Asset Management full-time for more than a year

Pros – Well-trained supervisors, comfortable working environment, good benefits

Cons – Low salary, no defined career path, no transparency about what it takes to get promoted

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate more with people 1-2 year exp. so you don't lose your best employees in years 2-3.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Western Asset Management full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Work Balance and ability to demonstrate worth regardless of seniority

Cons – Nothing to really discuss here. A lot of pluses, few minuses

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Western Asset Management full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Subsidized food. Good benefits. Great environment

Cons – Some politics, lack of upward mobility

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Western Asset Management full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good salary / benefits; Great location in downtown Pasadena; Like the cafeteria

Cons – Terrible management (IT); Company has seen a large drop in assets post-2008; spin-off rumors abound

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company