Meet the new Goldman Sachs partners

Sunday, New York marathon. Wednesday, entry into one of the most prestigious clubs on Wall Street. It's a whole week for Barry O'Brien, an investment banker who was one of 69 traders, risk experts, lenders and other qualified professionals for the exclusive Goldman Sachs partnership this week.

"It's definitely a good day," said 41-year-old Irishman O'Brien, who leads Goldman's technology, media and telecom mergers and acquisitions team. "It's a very ambitious title and I'm happy to be here today."

Although Goldman is no longer a true partnership since it was listed on the stock market in 1999, partner securities remain an ideal solution, offering base salaries of $ 950,000, membership to the bank's most influential committees, and opportunities to expand. exclusive investments.

On Wednesday, 69 people received the call, literally, while Goldman's new general manager, David Solomon, and president, John Waldron, were telephoning personally to announce the good news to those who had announced it.

Newcomers include a husband and wife based in London and a thirty-something who would have already made a profit of $ 100 million in a few months. There are now 484 partners in a company of 36,600 people.

Women were better represented than ever before, accounting for 26% of this year's harvest, although after the latest promotions women will represent only 17% of the total number of partner seats. "We could continue doing a much better job on this front and, with David at the helm, I think we'll do a much better job," O'Brien said. "It's very important for all the companies we are in."

Heather Kennedy Miner, Investor Relations Manager at Goldman, is one of the recently promoted women. "I did not expect it at all," she said. "It's an incredibly opaque process." She learned when she came to take a call at a risk committee meeting, which brought together people who were already familiar with her promotion.

She then had to sit for another 55 minutes of the meeting, trying to appear "very calm and composed" and vowed to keep the secret until the official announcement was made about four hours later.

As head of international relations, Ms. Kennedy Miner is one of the people who will have to fulfill the commitment of Goldman's new management team to greater transparency. "I work at Goldman Sachs, I have worked hard all my life," she said of the extra work this could involve. "It's an incredibly exciting time."

Margaret Chinwe Anadu, head of Goldman's urban investment group, missed Solomon's call that she had been promoted.

"When I arrived 15 years ago, I never thought that I could become a managing director and even less a partner," said the Nigerian-American banker, adding that the promotion of so many diverse partners was result of years of work of the firm. did to support various talents. Ms. Anadu joined Goldman's analyst program immediately after graduating from Harvard in 2003.

This year's group of partners was the smallest of the last 20 years and most people who wanted to become partners were left behind. "It's certainly difficult. . . to be a beneficiary of something and to know that others are not, "said Ms. Anadu, who considers her elevation as a vote of confidence, not only in it, but also in the impact of the investment of his team. "There are 34 people at UIG or who work closely with UIG. We have all been promoted today. "

She said that one of the first calls she had to congratulate her came from a colleague who hoped to be promoted but who had been missing out on it. Not everyone goes so badly away; Earlier in the week, the Financial Times spoke of a London-based equity specialist who had resigned because he had not been retained.

One person involved in the process of selecting partners said, "The circle of disappointed people applies (always) to people who are naturally disappointed with disappointed people who should not be, to people who are n & # 39; Have absolutely no reason to be disappointed.

The anointing of fewer partners this year will not cause further disillusionment, the person believed. "If you think of the number of people who aspire to be partners, the delta of 15 does not make your work infinitely more difficult or not (assign partnerships)," he said.

Partners typically stay in situ for six to eight years, sources close to the FT bank said, and every year a handful of people quietly withdraw from the ranks of the partners. Some do it by choice, some are invited to leave room for others. Some are entering the partnership at a later stage.

The separation of partners is far from the ideas of the 2018 promotion, which also includes a London-based married couple, Beat and Niharika Cabiallavetta, and the "100 million dollar trader," Thomas Malafronte, who works for the securities division. from Goldman to New York. newspapers in 2016 to make a nine-digit business profit.

For the moment, they are basking in their promotions. Mrs. Kennedy Miner plans celebrations with her husband, three children and her large Irish family. Ms. Anadu had a long luncheon on Wednesday.

And Mr. O & # 39; Brien? He will celebrate the Philadelphia Marathon in 10 days.