Goldman Sachs’ London office has been hiring, and possibly firing, junior bankers. It’s also continuing to lose a trickle of people to hedge funds and private equity.
The firm’s latest London arrivals and departures, as detailed by changes to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register, reveal the arrival of a handful of new associate-level hires in the past few months, along with the departure of several senior bankers and even more juniors.
Associate level hires in investment banks are often newly minted MBAs. However, newly minted MBAs don’t always know much about banking and can cause ripples among the experienced analysts they’re supposed to manage. Helpfully, therefore, Goldman’s most recent associate additions come from rival banks. Addeline Jennische joins as an associate in IBD from Citigroup, where she was an analyst in the (growing) industrials group. And George Molesworth joins as an associate in real estate finance from Santander, where he was a structurer in the real estate finance team. Neither Jennische nor Molesworth have an MBA, suggesting you can get a junior job at Goldman in your mid-20s without spending tens of thousands on a top business school.
Goldman is likely to register the rest of its new analysts and associates with the FCA in the weeks to come. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that U.S. investment banks, Goldman Sachs included, have increased their intake of junior staff this year. However, the FCA Register suggests that Goldman has also been clearing the decks to make way for its new hires. In the past month, four associates and two analysts from its London-based IBD division have left – seemingly without new jobs to go to.
The firm also continues to lose people to private equity funds and hedge funds. Giles Reaney, an executive director at Goldman Sachs, has just joined Advent International. Nabil Kobeissi, another executive director, has just joined to set up a new hedge fund, ‘LTW Partners.’
Goldman Sachs didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment. Reports today suggest that Goldman Sachs International, the bank’s London-based branch, is having a good year – profits trebled in the first six months of 2014 and pay per head was £221k for those six months alone.
Related articles:
When the MBA managing you is incompetent
Who have Goldman Sachs, JPM and Morgan Stanley hired for their 2014 MBA summer associate programs?