CFA Institute Reviews

- Egregious review process: zero effort made to reset expectations or coach underperforming employees (and there are a number of long-term Directors who don't pull their weight), coupled with a secretive layoff process - Politics, politics, politics - Bloated organizational structure: more Director level positions than lower level positions to do the work - Disrespect for FTE skillsets and overreliance on vendors - Lack of consistent strategic direction = lack of real impact. Constant change, no change management. Employees reshuffled every few months. - Major burnout in certain areas, especially technology-related positions - Untransparent career progression (see politics above): Good luck finding anyone under the age of 35 who enjoys working there or plans to stay

There are reorganizations that do not make sense to the point where some people have no clue what their roles cover - but everyone gets an "important" title (Head, Director, Manager). And the CFA Institute, unfortunately, is marred by a corporate, elitist atmosphere and snobbish people and an open office plan where you cannot escape from them. Perhaps this is due to the global nature of the organization and the wealthy individuals to whom it caters, or a microcosm of the investment management field in general, but it does not need to carry over to the everyday operation. Also, unless you consider blonde, brunette, and redhead to be ethnic groups, or include the Indian contractors, the CFA Institute is woefully lacking in diversity. African American, Latino, and Asian employees are few and far between, which is ironic for an organization that is now seeing the majority of its candidates come from India and China, and a city in Charlottesville with a major public university but that is still reeling from a violent fascist march less than two years ago.