AllianceBernstein: putting clients first, treating employees with respect, and carrying out thoughtful, quality research
Pros
AB generally respects its employees, with reasonable and regular working hours (40 or so hours a week, even in research) and an attitude of forbearance and calm, dignified leadership. There is even a feeling of camaraderie that makes it easy to work with new people and unite towards a common purpose. People work hard but without cutthroat competitiveness or a zero-sum-game attitude. The new leadership under CEO Peter Kraus looks to have what it takes to lead AB into a fruitful, prosperous next decade and beyond. Many opportunities for intellectual growth and compensation growth.
Cons
The company is publicly traded, which can mean severe layoffs when performance is poor relative to peers (such as in 2008). The company's core business is managing assets to a long-only value equities platform, which is particularly vulnerable to market downturns such as 2008's. This can put severe downward pressure on compensation, especially since the firm caps base salaries at $200,000. The firm has its share of stifling corporate bureaucracy, with particularly mediocre IT staff.
