GS Goldman Sachs Group Inc

By Liz Hoffman 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reshuffled the leadership of the banking unit that counts other banks as clients.

Mike Esposito, who currently co-heads the global financial institutions group, known as FIG, will be promoted to chairman of that unit effective next month, according to a memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

He will be replaced by Luke Sarsfield, who is chief operating officer of Goldman's investment-banking division and will split the role with FIG co-chief Todd Leland, based in London.

The reshuffling comes as Goldman has sought to deepen its reach among financial institutions. The bank, which has long counted on hedge funds to generate trading business, has looked for ways to win more business from other asset managers, including leaning more heavily on the relationships cultivated on the investment-banking side of the house.

Mr. Esposito joined Goldman Sachs in 1992 in New York and became a partner in 2000. He has been co-head of FIG since 2007 and has worked on deals including Banco Santander's takeover of Sovereign Bancorp. as the financial crisis unfolded.

He comes from a family of bankers. One brother, Jim, was a top Goldman financing banker and now co-runs the firm's fixed-income sales from London. Another, John, is co-head of FIG at rival Morgan Stanley. Their father was chief financial officer of Chase Manhattan in the late 1980s.

Most groups at Goldman have executives who run the day-to-day business, and chairmen who are freed from most administrative duties to court clients and be more involved in strategic planning.

In transitioning from the former to the latter, Mr. Esposito "will retain senior coverage for some of our most important clients," according to the memo, which was written by Goldman's investment-banking chiefs. A spokesman confirmed the contents.

Mr. Sarsfield joined Goldman in 1999 and was a banker to medical-device companies. He later ran Goldman's health-care banking group and was promoted to COO of the investment-banking division, Goldman's second-largest.

That job has been a steppingstone for executives who have gone on to bigger jobs. Stephen Scherr, who was COO of the investment bank from 2005 to 2007, was later made Goldman's strategy chief and now runs its consumer bank. Jim Esposito held the COO role, as did Gregg Lemkau, now a co-head of M&A.

Write to Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 05, 2016 15:07 ET (20:07 GMT)

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