Pros
At least in the parts of Chatham I observe directly, your success is in your own hands. If you have the right abilities and a passion for adding value to clients and colleagues you are most likely going to be given more and more responsibility until you've reached your limits. Maybe not at the pace some people will expect but it happens. Not everyone likes discovering their limits (it is a blow to the ego, naturally), but it is great to be in an environment in which this freedom to advance is possible, even encouraged. Generous, highly capable and for the most part caring and thoughtful colleagues surround you. The main differentiation with other financial services environments I've heard about and witnessed is that your managers and peers truly want you to succeed and to inspire them to be better along the way. Financially, it is good to very good. At first, I thought the compensation was disappointing, but I stuck with it and eventually it exceeded my expectations in most areas. I think it is especially positive that over 200 employees are shareholders, motivated to succeed and benefiting from the company's financial success along the way.
Cons
The company has grown in size and reputation far ahead of competitors, perhaps giving the company a "big head." Financial services as an industry is fickle. We'll see if we fall into any traps as a result of this twin risk, but there is always a risk of over-stretching for a fairly high-growth business with large investments in people.
