Rival banks well-positioned to poach Goldman staffers
Goldman Sachs has an impressive streak going when it comes to employee turnover, or the lack thereof, within its senior ranks. The streak is sure to be tested, though, following Wednesday’s appointment of a new crop of managing directors.
Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said this week that the average tenure for employees with a title of vice president or higher is 9.1 years, up from 7.6 years in 2001. Common sense suggests that number will come back down to earth in the coming year.
Goldman Sachs and other firms boasting about their meager turnover numbers have undoubtedly been helped by the lack of available job opportunities for senior bankers following the financial crisis. Recruiters expect that to change in 2014 come bonus season, when moderate hiring should occur.
Another factor at play is Goldman’s decision to name managing directors every two years, rather than annually, beginning this year. Those vice presidents who didn’t make the cut will now need to wait until November 2015 to hear if they’ve been promoted.
The move to a two-year appointment cycle should make a huge difference for those Goldman bankers who are curious about what else is out there. If nothing else, it will encourage rival banks to take aim at some of the names that weren’t included on the latest list of MDs. With compensation expected to be down this year at Goldman, other banks certainly have the opportunity to poach talent.
Comp to Rise in 2014 (eFinancialCareers)
When it comes to compensation, 2014 should be a much happier year for Wall Street bankers. One report forecasts a 15% rise in compensation for investment and commercial bankers.
What’s Your Favorite Type of Whale? (Business Insider)
If you weren’t active on Twitter this week, you missed some good stuff. J.P. Morgan asked followers to tweet questions to Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee, and boy did they. About 99 out of 100 were jokes or shots at the bank, which eventually was forced to scrap the idea and cancel the virtual Q&A.
Wicked Smart (eFinancialCareers)
Among the list of newly-minted managing directors at Goldman Sachs is a 28-year-old who was promoted from associate to VP to MD in just one year. He’s a Harvard graduate and a rumored mathematical genius who works on Goldman’s distressed credit trading desk.
DB Loses Veteran ‘Rainmaker’ (NY Post)
Deutsche Bank Jonathan Hitchon, the co-head of global prime finance in New York, is leaving the firm after 15 years. No word yet as to whether he has a new gig lined up.
Yellen Suggests Status Quo (Bloomberg)
Janet Yellen, the nominee to be chairman of the Federal Reserve, signaled that she too isn’t ready to pull the plug on stimulus funding. Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen also got her first taste of Wall Street nemesis Senator Elizabeth Warren, who told her the Fed needs to step up its supervision of those nasty banks.
Barclays has notified employees within its U.K. retail banking business that it plans to let go roughly 1,700 of them over the coming months. The cuts will mostly affect branch staffers and customer service employees.
Fourth quarter trading revenue at J.P. Morgan will be down “slightly” from a year ago, according to Michael Cavanagh, co-head of the bank’s corporate and investment bank.
Buzz Around the Office
If you are one of the dozens of people who actually enjoy the McRib sandwich, you likely don’t want to see this viral photo of what the “meat” looks like frozen.
Quote of the Day: “I'll let you in on a little secret. We don't all love our jobs every day. And doing something you have passion for doesn't make the work part of it any easier...It just makes you less likely to quit." – Kate Jacobs
