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      Morgan Stanley

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      Morgan Stanley reviews

      3.9

      75% would recommend to a friend

      (19,910 total reviews)
      avatar

      Ted Pick

      81% approve of CEO

      73% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.0

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.9

      Culture & values

      3.7

      Career opportunities

      3.6

      Work/Life balance

      3.6

      Compensation and benefits

      3.4

      Senior management

      Morgan Stanley has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 19,910 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Morgan Stanley employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Financial Services industry (3.7 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      20K reviews
      3.0
      Sep 18, 2016

      Financial Advisor

      Financial advisor
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Great company, global leader of wealth management. Benefits and training is constant.

      Cons

      Extremely challenging to succeed. Financial advisers are hired for their networks. MS does little to help you with leads. You must find a way to gain clients through cold calling, buying lead lists, networking and working your networks. Failure rate in the first three years is 90% taking into count of sons and daughters taking over father's and mother's book of business, those that have worked as FAs with other companies and those that are new to the business. Finding someone to partner with on their book of business is important.

      4.0
      Sep 1, 2016

      Review

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Company culture of learning and integrity Strong leadership

      Cons

      Low compensation Bureaucracy Disparity between compensation for senior officers and all other employees

      1.0
      Jul 1, 2016

      Finance and Risk functions at large banks to be handled with care

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Great brand name, some very smart people working on some very challenging assignments (Thanks to regulators!) which can be great learning opportunities for people belonging to the right cohorts, fraternities or sororities. Make sure that you have a sponsor with a rising star at the firm from Day 1. "Who you know matters a lot more than what you know", applies very well here. On a related note, many functional leaders lack the basic product knowledge so staff (VPs and below) does all the heavy lifting which can be wonderful if you believe in, "If it does not kill you, it makes you stronger."

      Cons

      Most large banks are under severe regulatory scrutiny which has translated into lots of pressure on employees, especially ones in the back office functions like Finance and Risk. MS has been struggling to meet its commitments to the street for a few years and that does not help anyone working there. Front office bankers and some functional leaders are not making as much as they used to and their disgruntlement translates into a pressure cooker environment for all the support staff. Lots of times junior employees in risk functions are asked to cooperate with business and other teams when the regulators expect risk functions to be impartial and diligent. This could be a career limiting move for everyone, especially for those trying to build a long term career without enough leverage. Promotions and salary hikes are awarded based on leverage primarily based on personal affiliations and preferences rather than merit. Don't believe HR or anyone else if they tell you otherwise. HR is the leader of labor cost reduction initiatives and under a lot of resultant pressure.

      Viewing 310 - 312 of 19,910 Reviews
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      Glassdoor has 24,503 Morgan Stanley reviews submitted anonymously by Morgan Stanley employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Morgan Stanley is right for you.