Cambridge Associates, LLC Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Well managed. Good work-life balance. Opportunities to work with talented colleagues.

Cons – Hard to jump to another group within the company.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time

Pros – Great people, a broad learning knowledge; people are willing to help out; superiors are super friendly and want to help; great if you know 100% that you want to get an MBA as they have great connections

Cons – Terrible salary; job gets repetitive; expect to stay a long time. I always think Cambridge would be a great place to do an internship because you learn so much about so many different types of investing. The downside, is that it does not teach you the necessary skills to do a lot of this type of investing (e.g. Hedge Funds or Private Equity or Venture Capital)

Advice to Senior Management – Increase pay/incentives; Don't stick to the job progression guidelines so rigidly

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Cambridge Associates is a good place to receive capital market exposure and engage with sophisticated institutional and private clients. The work environment is collegial in nature and the work/life balance is reasonable. It is a good firm to establish connections, build your industry networks, develop investment management and research experience, and then move on.

Cons – In 2011-12, the Department of Labor launched an exhaustive internal audit of Cambridge's employee compensation packages. The audit found that Cambridge Associates had been incorrectly compensating employees across several functional areas. The impacted positions were generally entry- to mid-level positions. Most of these positions were incorrectly classified as exempt/non-exempt, eliminating overtime pay for qualified individuals. Cambridge was forced to issue overtime payments for impacted individuals retroactively over a 2 year time period. The aggregate total of this payout was likely a nominal amount, relative to the millions of dollars the company failed to payout over the course of many years.

As an investment consulting firm that provides investment and operational manager due diligence, on behalf of its clients, the DOL audit findings were unacceptable and disconcerting. These issues stem largely from poor internal controls, poor operational oversight, and poor executive management. Communication across business units and even amongst consultant/client relationship teams leaves much room for improvement. Clients deserve better overall service and more accurate data, especially considering the exorbitant fees that Cambridge charges. Clients should strongly consider alternative investment consulting firms that provide high-quality products/services at a more attractive price point.

Advice to Senior Management – Although Cambridge Associates has developed a good reputation and garnered much of the domestic endowment market share, there are stronger alternatives for both prospective clients and job candidates. The future vision of the firm, as issued by executive management, is quite vague and modest at best. Compensation across positions (entry-level to consultant-level) is also at the lower end of the industry spectrum. The DOL audit findings, lack of internal controls and operational infrastructure, and poor communication should be considered when evaluating Cambridge Associates.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for less than a year

Pros – - Exposure to prestigious clients and investment managers. Working at MIG has also honed my analytical skills and greatly increased my knowledge of various asset classes.
- Amazing firm culture. Colleagues are wonderful and there is a great sense of camaraderie. Also, many opportunities to connect with colleagues in other countries.
- Leaders are genuinely invested in employee's success. They care about you and your development, and a lot of effort is put into training and developing your strengths.
- Many leadership opportunities and room for growth as MIG is just starting to be built out in Singapore.

Cons – - The MIG department in Singapore was recently set up, thus some basic teething problems here and there.
- Job can be challenging as associates are responsible for multiple stakeholders. However, there is a lot of guidance from leaders and colleagues to help you along.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than a year

Pros – Good people
Great balance
Diversity of clients
Interesting topics to cover

Cons – Not too tech savvy
Clients ultimately make their own decisions
Billable hours (at least you have to keep track of them)
Bureaucratic for a client-services business

Advice to Senior Management – Mandate innovation, best practices and true thought leadership from the top down, rather than merely repurposing models and exhibits for various clients with different titles as cost/time effectively as possible.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than a year

Pros – Great benefits, flexible hours, possible work-from-home options (depending on position)

Cons – Lack of communication across departments and even within some departments. The IT department has lack of vision, undefined career paths, little investment in employee growth/training.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – I'm very curious to see where this company is in 3-4 years. They are doing a lot of internal software development and are expanding their OCIO segment. Great company that listens to employees and helps them get to where they want to go from a career standpoint. Entry-level pay is not competitive but it definitely gets better as you are increasingly able to add more value to the business. Great boss, great colleagues, and great location. It truly is a very team-oriented environment.

Cons – I can see other folks in different positions within the company having some issues, but as it pertains to my job I really have a hard time coming up with cons.

Advice to Senior Management – They know what they are doing and my advice is probably not super beneficial.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – I have found Cambridge Associates to be a fantastic place to start my career. The Manager Information Group (MIG) has provided an environment where I have the opportunity to work hard and challenge myself everyday while being surrounded by friendly, intelligent, and driven young professionals doing the same. Cambridge has a strong firm-wide culture of collegiality and intellectual curiosity where learning is encouraged and questions are always welcome. Through close interactions with many different Cambridge departments and many different investment management firms, MIG Associates get a good glimpse of the full scope of Cambridge's business as well as exposure to the broader financial industry as well.

Cons – The role is constantly changing due to new firm and department initiatives which can both be exciting and tiring. The firm could benefit from increased investment in technology.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue being open to innovation and committed to excellence. Complacency is the biggest risk.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time

Pros – CA offers great place to start a career in finance - endless learning opportunities and exposure to a variety of different asset classes. The firm has a fantastic company culture – it’s a very collegial place to work with others who love to learn. A job will always be what you make of it, but all the tools are there to learn and develop a strong foundation in the investment consulting industry.

Cons – Long hours during peak periods, work can sometimes be repetitive.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Cambridge Associates, LLC full-time

Pros – People are nice enough and if you like solitude, this is a great place for you.

Cons – Unexciting, boring, uninspiring job and company

Advice to Senior Management – Wake up and realize where the industry is heading!