Where to begin... it can be extremely political. It's not who you hitch your wagon to, but who they hitch your wagon to. You will watch people continue to get promoted not necessarily for their skills/knowledge, but because they are visible and have a director who fights for them. Other directors and senior managers will deliberately hold people back from progressing in their careers.
Some junior to early management level staff go above and beyond and the response from upper management is "that's what is expected" while others just do their job and are deemed to be promotable. They'll also promote you if they think you're going to quit, so people have successfully played that card (something to consider).
There is no sense of development of skills and knowledge. No true and comprehensive training. They want people to stay in the position they are in because it's too difficult to replace them. They will say that the firm promotes and encourages lateral movement between teams, but that is seldom the case, and they will likely pay recruiters heaps of money to hire externally before ever considering someone internally.
Many of the senior managers and managers are not true "managers" or leaders; they are subject matter experts on their funds, and have little ability to grow, develop, and teach the people reporting to them.
The culture is very poor under a thinly veiled attempt at fun and friendly. Be very ready to be thrown under the bus by your Manager/Sr. Manager if something goes wrong, and for them to withhold promotion because of it.
Happy politicking!
