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    MSCI Reviews

    Updated September 20, 2017
    554 reviews

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    Full-timePart-time
    3.4
    StarStarStarStarStar
    Rating TrendsRating Trends
    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    MSCI President, CEO, and Director Henry A. Fernandez
    Henry A. Fernandez
    250 Ratings

    554 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
    Cons

    • Senior management is not really up to the job (in 34 reviews)

    • work life balance can be challenging if you need US overlap (in 16 reviews)

    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Right place to be if you want to lead the ESG investment industry"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MSCI full-time

      Pros

      - Sincere strategic investment in ESG business, strong support from the top
      - Get to be part of the 'leading edge' in the ESG industry, in terms of thought leadership and influence
      - High standards of integrity, quality, people
      - Work with very smart, eager, earnest people who are passionate about what they do
      - Ability to forge your own career path

      Cons

      - Risk-averse organization, high pressure environment
      - Lots of politics, bureaucracy, processes, but strategy not always clear
      - Hard to get things done, infighting between departments, competing priorities
      - Have to forge your own career path

      Advice to Management

      - Get clearer on strategic vision, don't underestimate the need to communicate that clearly to employees on a regular basis
      - Hire strong, transparent, inspiring leaders with clear vision
      - Promote people with vision who can lead and motivate others, not just those who are good at "managing up"
      - Not everything is best solved by a new process / committee

    2. "Can't trust Product management"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Vice President in New York, NY
      Current Employee - Vice President in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at MSCI full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Good hours fair pay. Lots of talented people in the research department. Corporate culture is slightly better than some other rat race financial institutions.

      Cons

      "Leadership" = politicians. Some wouldn't think twice to sacrifice junior employees to protect their personal interests. A lot of them are good at managing up, and disregarding down.

      Advice to Management

      Get more face to face interaction instead of sending out surveys.

      3. Join the MSCI team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "management needs serious people skills"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Doesn't Recommend
      Negative Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I worked at MSCI full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Like most places, there are some really talented and intelligent people working here. You can escape the long hours and high stress of the investment banking world. MSCI pays well.

      Great benefits including gym membership discounts, backup daycare and 16 weeks of maternity leave.

      Cons

      Senior management is seriously lacking in both people and communication skills. Managers are rude and demotivating. Lackluster efforts to train staff in these areas just make things worse. MSCI pays well instead of investing in their people and programs to develop talent.

      Advice to Management

      Add personality assessments when hiring to weed out the bad seeds.

    4. "Den of Snakes"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      Disapproves of CEO

      I have been working at MSCI full-time

      Pros

      Global research team is impressive

      Cons

      monopoly in index creates a bad environment

      Advice to Management

      governance

    5. "Good"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Managing Director in Los Angeles, CA
      Former Employee - Managing Director in Los Angeles, CA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I worked at MSCI (More than a year)

      Pros

      Far pay, fair hours, good work

      Cons

      A bit disorganized due to several geographic areas

    6. "Reference Data Analyst"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I worked at MSCI full-time

      Pros

      They had good culture and good health Benefits

      Cons

      In my case there was lack of proper communication channel, but could be different for others

    7. "Culture of mistrust"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Doesn't Recommend
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I worked at MSCI full-time

      Pros

      Management spends very little on initiatives so they can put this money into bonuses. People are well compensated but there is no work life balance so this compensation comes at a big personal price.

      Cons

      Very hard to get any meaningful work done. Initiatives that were budgeted for and approved earlier in the year have to be approved again at the the time work is started. Most often money is taken away and the scope of what is possible is severely diminished. There is also a culture of mistrust and micromanagement.

      Advice to Management

      Employees would be much more entrepreneurial and productive if everyone wasn't so fearful of their superiors.

    8. "Manager"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Manager in New York, NY
      Former Employee - Manager in New York, NY
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook

      I worked at MSCI full-time (More than 5 years)

      Pros

      Very professional organization, good benefits

      Cons

      Individuals can be clicky and dont accept newcomers easily

    9. "MSCI Rating"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook

      I have been working at MSCI full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Good culture and decent benefits

      Cons

      A top heavy organization. Stagnant base pay.

      MSCI Response

      Mar 20, 2017 – Executive Director, Americas Recruitment Lead

      Thank you for your comments. We annually review the base pay of all our employees during our year-end compensation process. In total, 91% of our employees received a base salary increase based on... More

    10. "Associate"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Associate in New York, NY
      Current Employee - Associate in New York, NY

      I have been working at MSCI (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Relaxed working environment. Good work life balance

      Cons

      Not too much conversation between employees and management.

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