Pros
The good talent is world class Front Office is top notch - Fundraising, Investment Professionals, Operating Executives are great Ability to work on unique and challenging problems Fantastic reputation Great compensation Great Offices and locations Willingness to spend
Cons
Back Office lacks maturity and is broken - people chase bonus not business objectives IT is a low performing, top heavy powerpoint mill Non-private equity, non-DC business units are isolated and ignored Not a fail fast organization - willingness to continue with bad businessess, projects and employess even in the face of overwhelming evidence Passive aggressive, gossipy, non-confrontational culture Poor leadership in back office functions - Acct, HR, IT are full of overpaid, low contribution employees Unneccessarily complex organization with high cost structure Superficial - looking the part is as important as playing the part