Totally dysfunctional - it is like the wild wild west anything goes.
Pros
Not much to say here other than, yes it is in New York and my manager lives on the opposite coast. So I'm to a large extent shielded from bullying tactics and childish behavior.
Cons
Like most of the reviewers have mentioned. 1. Totally bad management and leadership that is only getting worse. 2. Passive aggressive, abusive leaders. 3. People who are ethical, honest, meritorious, hard working, humble, work with integrity do not fit in with CREF culture and they will be targeted, psychologically abused for a year or so and then will be fired. I have now seen this cycle for the past 5 years. 4. Great analysts - smart, humble, hardworking, ethical people are let go every year. So the resultant pool gets worse by the year. 4. Middle management is full of bullies, so people who have no ethics, integrity and are brash and dumb will be promoted. It is a self-fulfilling, reinforcing cycle. 5. If you are a person that are a minority, or don't belong to the cliques then you are in big trouble. 6. This is a pattern in every department. It is not isolated to one department. HR, IT all filled with mediocrity and people enduring management abuse, torture and humiliation.