A firm in decline - Financial Advisor Morgan Stanley Employee Review

2.0
Aug 28, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The name on your resume and the training program gets you the needed certification.

Cons

Absolutely zero practical training provided for actually understanding financial markets. The financial advisor role is simply a way they utilize human capital to gather assets and revenue for lazy old financial advisors and a bloated and overcompensated management structure. You will learn nothing except how to find a way to sell an annuity or new structured product IPO to each and every client you encounter. Then they will reduce your commission payout percentage each and every year regardless of how well you generate revenue cause to time weighting of their commssion structure reduces faster than AUM accumulation and revenue does in their weightings.

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5.0
Jul 15, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good future opps - lots of exit ops

Cons

Cutthroat culture - everybody works too hard

3.0
May 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very good co-workers, Great technology stack. Lot of new technologies and integration with current work.

Cons

They dont even give you a MS cup. They ask you to buy it for 5$. So cheap! Management big on "Giving back", Immediate managers do not like it and are not supportive. Lay off employees twice a year to show profits. Only worried about shareholders and clients. Don't know the criteria for lay-off. So, you are always worried if it is your turn. They boast about mental health and wellness. No good, when they layoff employees like this. HR = Horrible Resources. When you are laid off, they shoo you away as if you are a fly. You feel miserable. They themselves say - "We are better than Facebook or Oracle. We dont fire you at 6 AM over email." Gosh! What a comparison!

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