Pros
There are some very enjoyable people that work at the company. An extreme office dichotomy exists within 40|86, in which there is a strong divide between senior personnel and the rest of the employees. Strong bonds are developed between more junior employees through a “misery loves company” mentality. Without this strong relationship between employees, which will last much longer than most people’s careers at 40|86, I would suspect the turnover would be even higher than what has been historically experienced.
Cons
As many of my former colleagues have written before me, excluding the two only positive posts that are suspected to be from the Human Resources department, there is not much upside to working at 40|86. The CIO, Eric Johnson, has cultivated a toxic culture of fear. By abusing his complete discretionary control over employee retention and compensation, he has built an inner circle that is focused solely on appeasing his erratic demands instead of using resources for the benefit of CNO stakeholders. Most in the inner circle are subsequently under qualified in their current positions, only putting additional strain on their employees to pick up their slack without any additional benefit. Promotions, raises and bonuses are all determined solely by Mr. Johnson, based completely on his relationship or perceived understanding of the employee’s personal character. He shapes these opinions through his continuous daily laps around the trading floor, harassing employees about their appearance, for taking time off, or by just making generally derogatory remarks towards them. Employees will not receive any support from their managers, as that indicates they will have to speak up and put themselves directly in his line of fire. Compensation is underwhelming and shockingly low compared asset managers of a similar size. Do not expect to be able to negotiate with the company if given an offer, as no one within the company is willing to ask Mr. Johnson for a larger salary budget to hire a deservingly talented individual. Although you may possibly be given a targeted bonus percentage, frequently employees meeting their goals, who are outside of Mr. Johnson’s inner circle, will receive nothing at bonus time in order to distribute additional compensation to his inner circle. Every year, many people will hear “wait until next year” in order to keep them from leaving. I do not expect this culture to change as long as Mr. Johnson is employed with the company. CNO Financial has continued to ignore the multitudes of lawsuits, survey results and exit interviews over the years driven by the culture that Mr. Johnson has established. The company had historically displayed poor performance, coming out of bankruptcy in 2003, and as a result has focused on quick, cheap solutions to long-term problems. I suspect history will have to repeat itself before any change occurs.
