great quality of life, but low salary and lots of deadweight at the top. make sure to filter reviews by location - Anonymous employee Morningstar Employee Review

3.0
Nov 13, 2019
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- some really great colleagues (especially those that start with you via the MDP program) - casual work environment - unlimited vacation/sick days, 6-week paid sabbatical every 4 years - flexible work schedule (WFH, later start, workouts in the middle of the day, etc). - fantastic work/life balance - $1000 educational stipend every year (more if it’s for the CFAs) - patio parties - focus on brand design standards - ethnically diverse - beautiful office, beautiful view, awesome patio, and amazing location - fancy espresso machines on every floor, farmers fridge on the 7th floor

Cons

- salary is low. great quality of life, and if you have a family and come in at a salary you’re happy with, you’re set. if you’re starting at this company as an MDP, you’ll end up leaving before three years because you won’t be able to justify the pay. - lots of deadweight at the top - way too many acquisitions **also, make sure you’re filtering the reviews by location. there are a lot of 5-star reviews here, but these seem to be reviews left by those that are in one of our global offices (mumbai, shenzhen, etc) NOT chicago. so be mindful of that.

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5.0
Jul 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

good company work life balance

Cons

really no cons for the firm

4.0
Apr 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really kind people work here, for the most part everyone I have worked with is smart and I have learned so much from them. There are great benefits: unlimited PTO, 6 week paid sabbatical is earned after 4 years of employment, 6 month maternity leave. Great location of an office. Great work life balance.

Cons

Not very competitive pay and it is easy to hit a ceiling in your career development. New HR policies are kind of strange, will not promote you unless you make enough money to be promoted which they designed the system to make it so you cannot go up. HR has also laid people off because they make too much money without considering the consequences of removing senior employees with unique/not stored intelligence vital to the company. They also hired a bunch of remote employees, then implemented a 4 day required in office rule no matter if you live states away from an office, which pushed hundreds of people to quit, not receive their bonus, and not require M* to pay them severance. It didn't use to be this way but the last year or so has been strange.

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