Goldman picks leaders for equities, banking units


Wealth business: A man walks past Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in New York. The Wall Street giant has handed both CEO Solomon and Waldron, the president and COO, an US$80mil retention bonus to keep them at the bank until at least 2030. — Bloomberg

NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs Group Inc is promoting a slate of star executives to run its biggest Wall Street business lines, spotlighting the firm’s next generation of leadership.

The bank, which just reported a surge in profit, is tapping new global leaders for its equities, fixed-income and banking units, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named discussing personnel decisions.

It also names new co-heads of its international unit and dramatically expands its management committee.

Erdit Hoxha, Cyril Goddeeris and Dmitri Potishko will oversee equities, Kunal Shah, Anshul Sehgal and Jason Brauth are set to run fixed income and Kim Posnett, Matt McClure and Anthony Gutman will lead banking.

Shah and Gutman are becoming co-chief executive officers of Goldman Sachs International in addition to their new roles.

Richard Gnodde, 64, will step down from running the international business, and is becoming vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs.

The promotions cap more than a year of deliberations inside Goldman over how to designate the firm’s next generation of leaders, giving them more influence in shaping the development of its operations.

The division-head roles being filled aren’t part of the bank’s current structure, with managers reporting to executives who oversee the broader banking and markets segment.

Altogether, the changes amount to the most significant elevation of Goldman’s future leadership outside of chief executive officer (CEO) David Solomon’s core team in recent years.

A spokesperson for the New York-based firm declined to comment.

Sam Morgan and Kevin Kelly will run client coverage for the firm’s trading business.

Francois-Xavier de Mallmann, chairman of investment banking, will become chairman of Goldman Sachs Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He will join the management committee along with the new division heads, in addition to Will Bousquette, chief operating officer (COO) of the asset and wealth business, Kathleen Connolly, the bank’s global director of internal audit and Marie Louise Kirk, chief administrative officer for Asia-Pacific.

In total, 15 people are joining Goldman’s management committee, lifting its membership by more than 50%.

Such promotions reflect a broader attempt at the bank to hold on to talent as Solomon retains his grip on the top job.

Last Friday, the bank handed both Solomon and John Waldron, the president and COO, an US$80mil retention bonus to keep them until at least 2030.

That’s positioned Waldron as the likely next CEO, but also raised further concerns over paths forward for talented executives at the bank, who, like Waldron, are increasingly facing temptations to join high-paying firms across Wall Street, particularly alternative asset managers.

The bank’s One Goldman Sachs initiative, which aims to smooth collaboration, is also getting new leadership as Morgan gets a new job.

John Storey and Tony Pasquariello are becoming co-heads, alongside existing co-head Meena Flynn.

In a smaller re-organisation earlier this month, the bank shuffled managers and combined units to form a capital solutions group, a nod to the growing importance of private markets. — Bloomberg

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In Business News

Lotte Chemical Titan reports RM1.2bil net loss in FY24, sees tough outlook
Bursa Malaysia to close on Feb 11 for Thaipusam
Scomi Energy to be delisted on Feb 12
BAT Malaysia posts RM49mil profit in 4Q, declares 15 sen dividend
Pentamaster to privatise Hong Kong unit and issue special dividend
Ringgit closes lower against US dollar
Notion VTec to acquire RM29.62mil land in Klang for expansion
IHH Healthcare unit seeks up to RM5.7bil compensation from Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo over Fortis deal
Petra assures people's welfare will be considered in setting Peninsula electricity tariffs
Bina Puri negotiates loan restructuring with Exim Bank

Others Also Read