Advisor Group Reviews

Pros

Responsive to remote work needs during pandemic

Cons

Executive leaders *extremely slow* to act to the needs of organization and tone deaf to the needs of financial professionals and employees. They will simply not respond if you reach out to them and raise a potentially sensitive issue. As a private-equity-owned firm, there is a heavy fiscal focus on their bottom line. AG sends out an over abundance of trifle communications regarding HR topics and requests, but exhibits little true care for employee workforce. They're cheap (holiday gifts during the pandemic were AG-branded Yeti mugs (!), even though they saved an obscene amount of money per firm by not having parties). Salary abysmal compared to competitors. (Don't take their first offer, they'll low ball you.) No work-life balance (expect to work evenings and weekends for no extra pay or perks) but AG will pay lip service to how they provide work-life balance.

Pros

Advisor Group is a rapidly-growing company, so if you are looking to grow yourself professionally there is plenty of opportunity to do so as long as you are willing to do the work and be knowledgeable about new roles or positions you might want. The company is constantly rolling out new learning opportunities and engagement initiatives for employees as well as initiatives for our advisors, and it really shows that they care about developing employees internally as much as they care about our customers externally. Their COVID-19 and BCP response has been tremendous. Communication has been frequent and I really feel as though they have the employees health and best interest at heart at all times. No one has been forced to enter into the offices, and health screenings are required if you do wish to do so. Overall, my 3+ years at Advisor Group have been nothing short of great! I have an incredible team that pushes me to be better and match the level and quality of their work, and the work-life balance is hard to beat.

Cons

Because Advisor Group is growing so quickly, it's easy to feel behind or overwhelmed with all of the changes. Personally I find it motivating to push myself to keep up, however at times it can be stressful to comprehend and then act upon all of the changes that are happening.

Pros

Great place to work and great management

Cons

I can not think of any real cons.

Pros

Despite economic challenges of 2020 along with a pandemic and unpredictable market conditions - the team has remained focused on growth, prioritized service to our clients, and worked hard to meet the needs of employees. These are themes I hear in meetings across the company at every level - focus, service, engagement. The pandemic response has been tremendous. Although AG is a lean company by design, the challenge and personal development I've experienced because of the company's culture and drive is substantial. I've had the chance to work on things that a larger company or more generously resourced company would have been available to me for my own career expansion. have an AMAZING team and truly enjoy working with colleagues across the company. Senior leadership is highly visible and easily accessible. Stretch assignments are the norm.

Cons

We pride ourselves on being lean, but we are still a start-up. There is still build work simultaneous to advance/grow/expand work that is quite stressful and time -consuming. The ramp up time for new employees can be quite overwhelming for new hires and frustrating for managers who need team members up to speed quickly. We run a bit too lean.

Pros

It's always the people you work with that make the work bearable.

Cons

As the headline implies, human resources is involved in everything and is extremely overbearing. This is felt in back-filling positions, "merit" increases (AKA cost-of-living adjustment only), and a lengthy process to complete an annual review. For the most part, it's HR work for the sake of HR, not for the benefit of the advisors. Inconsistent enforcement of any policies or procedures is the norm around here and don't even think about trying to be innovative unless you can do it on the cheap.

Pros

Pleasant coworkers. Easy commute. Free food or meeting leftovers.

Cons

LOW PAY. They are comfortable hiring remote workers or remote contractors, but expect home office workers to work in the office (because HO employees can't be trusted to maintain the same productivity". Sounds pretty hypocritical to me.