Pros: financially stable, sound management, many very intelligent hard-working employees
Cons: as tough to make it in private wealth management here as anywhere
The private wealth management part of the firm is fairly unstructured, and there was no formal training program like the large firms. "We work in ideas" is what I was told, and I found it to be true. There were no sales contests, and none of the breathless talk of younger advisors about the size of someone's book that I heard at another larger firm.
– more... A typical lunch or afternoon meeting featured either a William Blair analyst expounding on the financial parameters of an industry and the companies he or she covered, or the CEO/CFO of a covered company explaining their business model, challenges and strategy. Advisors are truly independent and not close with mutual fund wholesalers, though they do rely on the firm's analysts. Many employees, even admin and support staff, have worked at the firm for many years. The top principals of the firm were very down-to-earth and would make time for any employee. – less