Pros
- The pay isn't bad (as long as you're willing to put up with all the Cons that come along with the job) - Potential to be involved in much larger deals of >$500 million that one many not easily see in smaller companies - Smart, diligent colleagues whom you actually enjoy spending time with even outside of work hours
Cons
- As mentioned by other reviewers, GIC is incredibly bureaucratic. The investment approval process is slow and unnecessarily tedious, resulting in many missed opportunities because by the time we've submitted our first bid for a deal, the seller has already gone to Round 3 of bidding with other potential companies/buyers. - Highly political environment where sucking up to the higher ups is not only recommended, but outright necessary if you want to get promoted. - Lots of duplicative internal reports to be done so you spend a lot less time working on actual deals - The unofficial company motto that employees swear by: "lie low, live long". In other words, management tries to make it appear as if they are progressive and open to voices of dissent but in reality, "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down" is the more applicable maxim at GIC. So if you're going to work here, just lie low and act as a "yes man" to senior management and you'll have a much smoother tenure. - Face time is INCREDIBLY important. As an investment manager here, I have often felt the pressure to stay back until 9pm on a regular basis even when I'm done with work as that's what many colleagues do as well (even though they too are done with the day's work). Suspicions about the importance of face time were confirmed after I overheard the Country Head explain to another senior manager: "I like my seat because I can see the door from here so I know what time people come in and leave the office." Actual work done appears to be less important than how much time you're willing to spend showing face in the office. - Poor work-life balance (you're either on the sending or receiving end of 2am emails and everyone sees this as normal, even when there aren't live deals or any looming deadline for a particular project) - If going on business trips, you are expected to leave on a Sunday and return on a Saturday so that the entire Mon-Fri can be used for meetings. If you fly long haul like I do, you will effectively lose 2 days of the weekend once a month without compensation for the lost time with family. Management doesn't think there's anything wrong with that. - Due to the above, place is terrible if you want to have any amount of work-life balance. - Somewhat hard to leave as you need to give 3 months' notice; just need to plan well in advance and negotiate harder with your next employer about when you can join them. - Pay is good but once you work out the pay given the hours you work as an investment manager (about 90-100 hours a week) you're better off elsewhere. CAVEAT: The above is based on my several years of work experience at the GIC headquarters in Singapore. I get the sense that colleagues in the other offices in the US and the UK enjoy a more relaxed and reasonable working environment. Additional context: I'm about to hand in my resignation so feel I can speak more freely.
