Toxic - Stay Away - Senior Associate Ankura Employee Review

1.0
Feb 21, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Not much other some fee kitchen snacks/coffee

Cons

Don't be fooled by Ankura's emphasis on "culture". Leadership is extremely toxic and cutthroat. There is zero emphasis on mentorship, development or employee wellness. The organization is extremely top heavy with little emphasis on building employees from the ground up. Rather than teach, mentor and develop associates , SMD's & directors will ridicule and belittle instilling constant fear and paranoia. There is no such thing as "work-life" balance or employee wellness. You are expected to be available for leadership 24/7. If management decides to let you go, rather that fire you, they will assign a "director" to oversee you and provide you with impossible tasks. When you fail in the tasks/initiatives you will be given the pink slip.

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Ankura Response
6y
We understand that each person has different drivers for what makes a rewarding career experience. Based on your feedback, we're disappointed that this wasn't raised to leadership so we could address your concerns. At Ankura, we strive to always be kind and treat others with dignity and respect.

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5.0
Jul 14, 2026
Anonymous employee
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CEO approval
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Pros

The people here and those that choose to come, or friendly, collegial, and fun to work with. This is truly a learning environment. My colleagues have deep expertise and I learned every day. Oxygen to my brain.

Cons

The work and timelines can be intense - but sometimes that's the nature of client service and the business we are in.

4.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I happened to be on a good team with good managers who hire well. The whole team works well together, expectations are generally set to fit everyone well, and tasks are assigned as such. The work is also quite interesting most of the time and we get opportunities to explore new work streams.

Cons

Low visibility between stakeholders and normal employees, specifically the private equity that owns the firm. This makes it difficult to understand many of the top-down decisions made and makes the whole review/raise cycle extremely weird. Every year someone asks management why there is such a long delay between reviews and promotions/raises along with no transparency surrounding raise decisions.

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