CFA Institute reviews

Management has this company slowly circling the drain. In the past year alone, five high-performing staff members around me have been let go due to repeated "restructurings" that have measurably hurt performance and destroyed team morale. Two of them had over 15 years with the organization, so no one is safe. A team bowling night means nothing when you don't know if your job will exist next year. These restructurings seem to occur every time a senior hire is made, and serve only to confuse the rest of the business. Some employees I've spoken with don't even know what their own division is called. There are also far too many managers and not enough people doing actual work. When I was hired, my manager flagged that we needed one more team member to handle the workload. That team has since lost a member, yet somehow gained an extra layer of management between them and their MD. The CEO recently departed with less than a week's notice to the organization, a fitting metaphor for how rudderless leadership has become. Rather than staying the course, they chase buzzwords and abandon projects with years of investment behind them the moment something shinier comes along.

My early experience at the CFA Institute was very positive, with a strong sense of purpose and a highly capable team. Following the leadership change, the environment shifted significantly. The culture became more challenging, with declining morale and reduced openness. There was also a clear move away from a mission-driven approach toward a more commercially focused direction. During this period, a number of roles were made redundant, often with little notice, which created uncertainty and affected stability and trust.