Morning Coffee: Goldman Eying 1% in Asset Management Push
Strict capital requirements and other new regulations have caused big banks to exit some of their riskier businesses, like investment banking and equities, to allocate more resources to safer units like asset management.
The loudest, most glaring example is UBS, which just picked up and ran out of its fixed income business like its hair was on fire. And now, an even bigger name in securities trading – Goldman Sachs – is eying asset management as a major part of its business moving forward.
"We want to grow the importance of the asset management business within the firm,” an unnamed executive told Financial News. “That sort of subtle shift is inevitable through this decade."
Goldman is putting their money where their anonymous mouth is. Buried beneath other headlines surrounding its new partnership class is this little nugget: Roughly 12% of the 70 newly minted partners work in asset management, up from just 4.5% in 2010, according to Financial News.
It doesn’t pay as well to be risky these days. The new war on Wall Street is over managing the wealth of the 1%.
Talk About Uncomfortable (WSJ)
Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat was working hand-in-hand with his predecessor, Vikram Pandit, during the final days of Pandit’s tenure, knowing full well of the board’s plans to push him aside.
J.P. Morgan yet again has regulators knocking on its door, this time to assess alleged weaknesses in the bank's antimoney-laundering systems.
The Two-Year Plan (Wall Street Oasis)
The toll that investment banking can take on the body and mind often lead to short stints for many who enter the business. If you know you’re going to be one of those two-years-and-out folks, here’s how to keep your impending exit as clean as possible.
No Love for IT (eFinancialCareers)
Just 3% of the 266 newly-minted managing directors at Goldman Sachs work in technology, despite the fact that roughly 25% of the bank’s headcount specializes in the field.
When a Hobby Isn’t a Skill (Financial Times)
Having interests outside of your career is healthy, but don’t list them on your CV unless they directly support your work objectives.
A Quick $100 Mil (Financial News)
Man Group just made some quick cash by selling the legal claims to the estate of Lehman Brothers for $456 million, just one year after buying the claims for $346 million.
Kieran Goodwin, former head trader at King Street Capital, has launched his own fund which began trading on Nov. 1. Panning Capital Management, which has already filled its initial capacity, has hired a host of big names to run the $500 million fund.
Meet Una Neary, one of the 10 women to have been named partner by Goldman Sachs last week. Her backstory begins at an Irish pub on the Upper East Side.
Buzz Around the Office
Two professional basketball players, twins Robin and Brook Lopez, handle the drop down Disney’s Splash Mountain in rather different fashions.
List of the Day: Email Etiquette
Professional relationships can often become soured through poor email etiquette. Here’s how to stand out from the rest.
- Eliminate unnecessary salutations and niceties. Get to the point – people will appreciate it.
- If you can’t get back to someone right away, shoot them a quick note letting them know.
- Identify what emails are important and what aren’t.
