Pros
Excellent place to get a financial career off the ground. Decent training program. If you are on a good team with advisors that invest in you then you can get a lot of practical experience to use at the next firm you go to. This is a great opportunity to get a solid name on your resume and build credibility.
Cons
Very limited mobility. To get ahead you need to give up on work life balance. Comp is pretty low versus competition even though management will say it's on par. The associate role has a lot of pressure. There is a lot of stress and work volume and not enough support from tenured associates or management. The associate turn over rate is pretty high and that makes keeping a steady work flow pace pretty hard. New associates take a long time to bring up to speed.
