Pros
Midtown location. Healthcare premiums are covered by the firm. Hours are light, though that reflects that nothing of real consequence happens at USSA.
Cons
If you are considering joining USSA, there is one thing you need to understand before anything else: working here does not mean working at a $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. It means working for the administrative office that supports one. In practice, USSA functions primarily as a hospitality and logistics operation for PIF visitors in NYC. The firm deploys no capital, has no meaningful input into PIF's investment strategy, and exercises no real influence over the fund's direction. None of the activities you read about involving PIF originate through USSA. This becomes apparent quickly after joining. The power dynamic between PIF and USSA staff is not subtle. Sections of the office are reserved exclusively for PIF personnel and USSA employees are not permitted to enter them. You are required to be in that office five days a week, but the physical layout makes clear, without ambiguity, whose house it actually is. The organizational structure compounds this. Teams have credible-sounding mandates that do not reflect reality: International Investments does not make investments. Business Development schedules calls for PIF teams and repackages it as deal sourcing. Corporate Affairs attends conferences but has never given a public interview and has not managed to launch a public website. Finance scrutinizes minor expenses while senior leadership spends freely on international travel that serves no discernible business purpose. Compliance and Governance views employees as threats when the firm is no more regulated than a store down Fifth Avenue where USSA is located. Leadership, namely the incompetent and unqualified guy running the place, has built a culture that rewards compliance and political navigation over performance. Those who raise concerns or push for accountability tend not to last. Those who don't tend to stay and make things worse. The turnover rate reflects this, and it is notably high for an office of this size. What makes it harder to watch is what happens to new joiners. They arrive with genuine enthusiasm, understandably given the name and the premise. Within weeks, that enthusiasm is gone. The work, they come to realize, is largely performative. The office they were hired to help build has no clear foundation to build on, and is run by adrift, clueless management who deal in deceit and indifference. This is exemplified by one VP hire who joined last year and resigned within weeks, without another job lined up, having seen enough of the dismal culture and office environment. I've never seen that before in my career, and it's still shocking to me to this day. Compensation is a persistent problem. Bonuses are paid late every year - 2024 bonuses were not distributed until May 1, 2025, and as of now there is no communicated target date for 2025 bonuses. The explanation is straightforward: PIF controls the purse strings and has shown no urgency in prioritizing USSA employees. For a firm that presents itself as a finance employer in NYC, this is a glaring red flag. Anyone considering a role here should ask a question that nobody inside will answer directly: what is the long-term plan for this office? In my experience, nobody knows - or if they do, they aren't saying. That opacity makes everything worse. Employees are expected to build an institution from the ground up in an environment entirely free of trust. If you are weighing an offer here, go in with clear eyes. The brand association sounds impressive. The day-to-day reality is something else entirely.