Goldman Shuffles Consumer Banking, Asset Management Executives -- Update

By Liz Hoffman

A woman will run a major division at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for the first time in years as Chief Executive David Solomon continues to put his mark on the bank.

Stephanie Cohen, who has been Goldman's chief strategy officer since 2017, was promoted Tuesday to run the bank's consumer banking and wealth-management division as part of a broader reshuffling two years into Mr. Solomon's tenure. Her co-head will be Tucker York, a longtime executive in Goldman's private bank, which caters to billionaires.

The firm is also combining Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which invests about $2 trillion on behalf of clients such as pension funds and governments, with its private-equity business, which has historically invested Goldman's own money. It will be run by Eric Lane, a co-head of the former, and Julian Salisbury, a co-head of the latter.

Goldman Kremlinologists will find plenty to dissect in the moves. Ms. Cohen, a favorite of Mr. Solomon, gets a division to run -- a must-have for executives with their eye on the C-suite. A longtime consigliere to a string of Goldman CEOs, Tim O'Neill, will give up his job co-running asset management with Mr. Lane to become a senior counselor.

In two years on the job, Mr. Solomon has collapsed a loose collection of fiefs into four relatively straightforward businesses that mirror peers like JPMorgan Chase & Co.: an investment bank that brokers corporate deals, a trading arm that buys and sells securities, a money manager that invests on behalf of pension funds and other clients; and a consumer arm that offers bank accounts, credit cards and investment products.

Goldman seeks to add $350 billion in client assets over the next few years, including $100 billion in so-called alternative funds, which invest in things such as real estate, private equity and private credit. Asset management throws off steady fees, entails little risk and sucks up little capital, which means it has higher returns to shareholders.

Goldman's stock is stuck at 2016 levels. Returns in core businesses like trading have declined and investors remain skeptical that it will succeed in new ventures such as consumer banking and wealth management for the masses.

Russ Hutchinson, an investment banker who caters to financial institutions and one of Goldman's few Black partners, will take Ms. Cohen's job as chief strategy officer.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2020 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

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