Goldman Sachs restructuring could signal bloodbath: sources
Another management change at Goldman Sachs this week could indicate a major bloodbath is brewing at the asset and wealth management unit, sources told On The Money.
On Monday, the David Solomon-led Wall Street giant announced that Will Bousquette – previously chief operating officer of Global Banking and Markets – will be AWM’s new COO.
Bousquette replaces Laurence Stein, a popular and long-time partner who Goldman said is “retiring” at the end of the year after nearly three decades with the firm.
That came after Stein clashed with his hard-nosed boss Marc Nachmann, who was hired out of banking and markets last October, as On The Money first reported.
Like Nachmann, Bousquette has a reputation as a cost-cutter, insiders said.
Bousquette is considered to be hand-picked by Nachmann because the men have already worked closely together in other divisions.
“Marc brought with him a lot of people from the banking and trading industries,” said a source.
The source added that this was part of an effort to attract people who would comply with his wishes.
He also takes a leading role in leadership deciding what to do with certain layoffs at AWM, a group formed last year when two departments merged.
“Marc and Will are focused on growing already large global asset and wealth management client companies. “This means investing in areas that are important to our customers and our business,” a spokesman for the bank said in a statement.
“Like most of our competitors, we report on wealth and asset management as one segment. These are complementary companies that serve different customer groups. We don’t merge them to achieve cost efficiency.”
Solomon has given Nachmann carte blanche to make aggressive cuts in the division – even as Goldman is reportedly preparing to trim the worst-performing companies across the company as early as next month in a 1 percent cut, sources say.
“Nachman received a clear order: do everything to make the group as profitable as possible,” a source said.
Solomon has signaled that AWM – a department that is reportedly being reorganized into a “Mini Blackstone“ – is key to its strategy because it can support profits when dealmaking is slow and markets are choppy.
In a statement earlier this week, the bank said of Bousquette’s new role: “He will focus on continued alignment between our business and operational functions, managing risk and scaling our technology capabilities, while helping us drive progress towards goals.” .” and goals we shared at Investor Day.”
Earlier this month, On The Money reported that tensions between Stein and Nachmann had reached their peak and Stein was “extremely unhappy.”
Stein’s exit follows a series of departures from AWM, including Julian Salisbury, former chief investment officer of AWM; Luke Sarsfield, former chief commercial officer; and Mike Koester, former co-president of Alternatives.
“I really enjoyed working closely with Marc and the leadership at Asset & Wealth Management and look forward to the company’s continued success,” said Stein.
“Laurence’s experience and insight have been invaluable to me as we have identified growth opportunities and built an organizational structure that allows us to capitalize on them,” said Nachmann.
