Pros
Please note - this review is about American Funds Service Company - Shareholder Services (AFS) in Irvine California. Some of the review may not apply to any positions at headquarters in Los Angeles or other sites in the United States or abroad.. Awesome Co-workers Great Retirement Benefits Beautiful Compass Wonderful Reputation in Financial Services Industry When I started working at AFS - It was an amazing company - large corporation, but with a family feel and take care of your people attitude. While it is a large department, AFS is largely a flat organization, so the possibilities to move upward within the department are limited - Associate, Manager, and Sr Manager. So the possibility of career development is largely only available to moving out of AFS. That being said, the work can be challenging dealing with frustrated clients and investment advisers. The pay is quite respectable for a phone and processing center. AFS does require overtime when they are busy or understaffed. They attempt to offset this with "voluntary" overtime, but at times, they do require all associates to put in some required overtime. While required over time is not liked by any associate, the overtime pay helps numb that pain. The more overtime you do, the larger the contribution to your retirement plan and your bonuses. This is not always realized, but it's nice to see it when it comes in and really builds up over time. There is a significant amount of training involved. For some the material is easy, but for others, the concepts, services, and products are really over their heads. They do a fair job of helping associates understand the concepts with additional support for a limited time (maybe 6 months or so) but after that it'll become an issue if you can't grasp the concepts or processes. The Irvine compass is beautiful and has great cafeteria for you to purchase lunch if you want. If you commute by train, you'll develop some close friendships and bonds commuting back and forth and getting to know people outside the office. Irvine has a shuttle that picks people up at the Irvine train station and drops you off right in front of the Capital Group offices, so it's super convenient. There isn't much of interoffice socializing . A lot of people commute a long way and most days people just want to go home. Happy hours and outside social events within the department are pretty much non-existent. The department tries to keep motivation and moral up with some on campus social events, potlucks, and providing some meals and snacks for special occasions or as reward for doing the overtime. Not everyone appreciates these things, but it could be nothing - so take those complaints in stride. It's certainly something that they don't have to do. Overall, this is a great place to start your career in financial services. The training is good and the reputation about the company will serve you well if you stay in the financial services industry. It will also be some of the greatest associates you get to work with. Lot's of great associates that you can build good working relationships with and if you're lucky, some good life long friends.
Cons
Within the department, the attitude has shifted from family and promoting within, to more micromanaged, cut throat, and promote from outside. More and more, the business as a whole seems to hire from outside to fill positions in various other departments as opposed to giving associates the opportunities to prove themselves. It can not be over emphasized that you should heed all the warnings about "speaking your mind", "tell us what you're thinking", "share your observations", "we have an open door policy", "we are very receptive to feedback" and any other variation of those thoughts, ideas, and concepts, because in the end, those are just key words for "open up to us so we can make a judgement about where you're going to go in the company and whether or not we like you". Once you show your hand, your reputation is cemented and no amount of time or change in your behavior will change their opinions in this department. Managers seldom move, Sr Manager never move - so whatever they think of you, is what they think of you. Don't be fooled by the fake compliments, "Kudos", rewards, free lunches, or utilization as a "resource". If you aren't being given opportunities within a few years, they've already made up their minds about who you are and where you're going within the company. Like many reviews have said, AFS doesn't really care about your thoughts or opinions. Whatever you do, don't complain. Maybe you can provide "suggestions", but watch your tone. Consider your delivery method (face to face, privately, in an office, on the floor, or via e-mail) and how it could be perceived by others. Don't be fooled by the rhetoric of accepting feedback or by whatever response Capital Group will provide in response to this opinion. AFS is interested in one thing and one thing only - support whatever idea upper management comes up with, no matter how silly, dumbfounded, and unrealistic it is. If you work there long enough, you will see a change from one process to another and then back again. Mostly a repetition of previous ideas and processes, wrapped in some new meaningless, see through wrapper. So when you see it - smile and exuberantly praise what a great new and fantastic idea is it. Don't be surprised when the process is changed, revised, or reversed weeks, months, or years later. Within AFS, the department is not interested in leaders. They want followers. It's bred into the culture from Senior Management down. Leaders are too disruptive to the status quo within the department. Original ideas - truly and genuinely original ideas about managing associates or the department - are not really well accepted and if they are - expect them to be stuck within the cogs of reviews, analysis, and clarification. The wheels of change move slowly. Ironically, it doesn't seem that the same amount of analysis or clarification is utilized for some of the initiatives that management push forward to the associates. Managers over associates can seem duplicitous. While seeming to care, they are also sometimes the first ones to deliver a negative perception about the associate. Sr managers rarely take the side of the associate, mostly because of limited interaction. So be aware that if you want a new perception from your Sr Manager, start having those one on one meetings with your manage and include the Sr Manager in those meetins. Also, think about setting up maybe quarterly check-ins with the Sr Manager to help develop your interaction and career. Again, be careful. This approach while seemingly almost necessary is a double edged sword. Also remember to have your "work face" on - be prepared with clear ideas that you want to convey, don't get too personal, emotional, or passionate about anything. There are some managers that really do care and support their associates. But there are seemingly more that are only interested in pushing their career objectives and answer to their boss, that it makes the good ones difficult to identify. The greatest incentive they offer and keeps you tethered to the job, is the retirement plan. 15% of your gross income. That being said, I would encourage you to leave on your own terms and don't sit around wasting your time for 6 years for the retirement plan to be vested before leaving. While it is a great benefit, it's also one of the major incentives to stay, but remember, it's not your money, so anything you walk away with is free money. Other companies may offer matching or better overall compensation packages if you know what you are looking for.