For several decades, Wilshire Associates has served as a premier investment management firm. In addition to their signature Wilshire 5000 and Wilshire 4500 indexes, Wilshire offers consulting services, analytical products, and investment vehicles to global clients, advising on a combined $1.3 trillion in assets and managing $84 billion in assets.
Wilshire Investment Advisory’s influence makes it a highly desirable location for ambitious consultants and financial professionals interested in working with an elite global client base. The firm also provides access to industry-leading investment products & analytical tools. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Wilshire Associates, so you can decide if a career with Wilshire is right for you.
Firm Key Stats
Firm Website: https://www.wilshire.com/
Firm Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA
Firm Number of Employees: 350+
Firm Number of Locations: 6 (with 3 affiliate offices)
Firm Chief Executive: Mark Makepeace
Firm Revenue: $140 million +
Wilshire Associates History
In 1972, Dennis Tito founded Wilshire as a technology firm. Tito was considered a pioneer of applying computing technology to financial and investment ends, and the firm quickly evolved to an investment management company. Wilshire developed the Wilshire 5000 Stock index in 1974, which has since become a highly popular index of all actively traded US stocks.
Throughout the 1970s, Wilshire continued pushing the field forward by developing new technologically driven investment management tools, including index funds, portfolio optimization tools, performance measures, and bond portfolios. Wilshire also developed the first asset/liability model to assess pension funds.
Wilshire launched its formal investment consulting business in 1981, advising pension funds before going on to develop its own investment products throughout the 1980s. The company continued developing private equity and venture capital products into the 1990s.
Wilshire Associates was bought by CC Capital and Motive Partners in 2021. Shortly after, the Financial Times began publishing ten new Wilshire digital asset indexes and three multi-asset indexes, including a Top 5 Digital Assets Index, a Top 5 ex Bitcoin Digital Assets Index, and the Bitcoin & Ethereum Digital Assets Index.
Wilshire Associates Careers
As a leading investment consulting firm, Wilshire Associates is an eminently attractive firm for consultants and investment professionals. In this section, we’ll give you all the information you need about Wilshire Associates careers, so you can determine if working with Wilshire is a good fit for you.
Wilshire Associates Internship
There are Wilshire Associates internships available both to current students and to graduates. These internships are paid, with an average annual salary of approximately $65,000. Wilshire Associates internships are available in each of the company’s different business areas. The company touts the educational and professional development value of these internships, with interns not only serving in meaningful roles with actual Wilshire teams and clients, but also to learn from senior Wilshire employees at every level of management.
Practice Areas
Wilshire Associates practice areas include:
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- Managed Portfolios
- Asset Allocation
- Manager Research
- Investment Consulting Services
- Discretionary Management
- Alternative Assets
- Financial Indexes
- Equity Analytics
- Fixed Income Analytics
- Performance Measurement
- Investment Databases
- Peer Group Analysis
- ERISA 3(21) and 3(38) Services
- Mutual Funds
- Risk Management
- Investment Research
- Private Markets
- Hedge Funds
Industries
With such a wide range of financial & investment consulting services and analytic tools, Wilshire Associates industries include virtually every industry and asset class. The particular industries Wilshire Associates focuses most on are:
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- Financial Advisory
- Financial Intermediaries
Wilshire Associates Locations
There are six global Wilshire Associates locations:
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- Wilshire Associates Santa Monica
- Wilshire Associates New Jersey
- Wilshire Associates Pittsburgh
- Wilshire Associates Chicago
- Wilshire Associates Denver
- Wilshire Associates London
There are also three Wilshire Associates affiliate locations:
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- Wilshire Associates Europe B.V., in Amsterdam
- Wilshire Hong Kong, Ltd.
- Suzhou Wilshire Investment Services Co., Ltd., in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Career Path
The Wilshire Associates career path varies according to the specific business area employees work within at Wilshire. In each business area, the company touts its professional development opportunities, with employees having access to ongoing formal training and skills building, as well as informal education through regular meetings with senior management (up to and including the CEO).
Within Finance, the Wilshire Associates career path progresses from Financial Analyst to Investment Analyst to Portfolio Manager.
Within the Research area, Wilshire careers progress from Research Associate to Analyst to Senior Analyst.
Within the Business area, which involves higher levels of the corporate hierarchy, the Wilshire Associates career path progresses from Assistant Vice President to Vice President, Director, Senior VP, and Managing Director.
Within Consulting, the career path progresses from Associate to Senior Associate to Consultant to Senior Consultant.
Exit Opportunities
Because Wilshire deals with such a wide range of industries and asset classes, the Wilshire Associates exit opportunities offer departing employees the chance to move to a variety of companies and industries depending on the experience and expertise the employee gained in their time at Wilshire. The company’s reputation for forward-thinking financial analysis, investment consulting, and portfolio management means employees are particularly well-positioned to move to a position in those areas after their time at Wilshire. Wilshire’s emphasis on technology-driven financial analysis also means exiting employees should be well positioned to leverage their technological expertise at other firms.
Diversity Programs
There are many Wilshire Associates diversity programs aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion not only within the Wilshire workforce, but in all the work Wilshire employees do with outside clients. Wilshire specifically emphasizes offering professional development, networking, mentorship, and other forms of institutional support to women through the Gender Diversity Awareness Committee. The GDAC strives to prepare female employees for senior leadership positions within the firm.
Beyond the GDAC, Wilshire offers mandatory diversity training to its employees to promote awareness of unconscious bias and structural inequalities. Further, through the Diverse-Owned Manager Initiative, Wilshire strives to offer industry education to promote more equal access to capital.
Wilshire Associates Culture
The Wilshire Associates culture fosters an atmosphere of ambition and a balance of teamwork & individual initiative. Wilshire promotes the sharing of different perspectives in order to seek collaborative and innovative solutions to challenging problems. Further, Wilshire emphasizes seeing commitments through challenges and obstacles to their conclusion, while insisting employees act with honesty and integrity, relative to one another as well as external clients and partners.
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Wilshire Associates Interview
Having read all the above, let’s now take a look at what you can expect from the Wilshire Associates interview.
Firm Interview Process
Wilshire’s firm interview process can be rigorous but is in line with industry practices for other competitive consulting firms. The Wilshire firm interview process begins with an initial phone screening. From there, applicants proceed through two additional Zoom interviews, including one with a senior management official (often at the VP level) to assess the applicant’s general/behavioral fit and another with an Analyst to assess the applicant’s technical skills and qualifications. Presuming the applicant proceeds successfully through all these rounds, the applicant is then subjected to a case question. This case question typically involves the applicant being presented with a realistic scenario involving the specific practice area the applicant is interviewing for. The applicant is given a chance to study the scenario before answering questions regarding how they would analyze and respond to the scenario.
Wilshire Associates Salary
Of course, if you’re considering applying to Wilshire, one of the most important pieces of information you’ll be seeking is the Wilshire Associates salary. The following are average starting salaries for different Wilshire Associates positions.
- Analyst: $110,000
- Senior Analyst: $173,000
- Assistant VP: $225,000
- VP: $306,000
- Senior VP: $425,000
- Director: $340,000
- Managing Director: $595,000
- Financial Analyst: $106,000
- Senior Financial Analyst: $136,000
- Associate Consultant: $117,000
- Senior Associate Consultant: $134,000
- Consultant: $189,000
To compare these figures to other top firms, be sure to see the Management Consulted Salary Report.
Conclusion
For over 50 years, Wilshire Associates has managed to maintain a reputation for applying innovative technological solutions to financial analysis and investment consulting. That reputation continues to this day, with Wilshire serving as one of the most trusted firms for financial services across virtually all asset classes. Aspiring management consultants—especially those interested in applying technologically driven financial analysis while working with globally impactful clients—should consider whether a career at Wilshire Associates might be right for them.
Additional Resources:
- Top Consulting Firms of 2023
- Top 10 Boutique Consulting Firms in US
- Consulting Resume: Complete Guide
- Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide