Goldman Sachs' top female strat is leaving. This might be why
Thalia Chryssikou is leaving Goldman Sachs. In a post on social media today, Chryssikou - who was 'co-head global sales strats and structuring across FICC and equities' at the firm, said she's "embarking on new adventure," but didn't specify what it might entail.
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Chryssikou has been at Goldman Sachs for nearly 26 years and is based in the UK. She's been a partner since 2008, when she was made head of EMEA rates and currencies strats.
It's not entirely clear why Chryssikou has chosen this moment to leave but it may not be entirely coincidental that she's quitting on the same week that Stefan Bollinger announced that he's leaving to become CEO of Julius Baer. Chryssikou worked closely together in the past and were made joint global heads of sales strats in 2017.
Chryssikou's exit may also be related to Goldman's "rule of 60." This says that Goldman employees can walk away from the firm when their age plus their tenure add up to 60, and can keep all their unvested stock in the process.
In a memo to Goldman staff on Chryssikou's retirement, Sam Morgan, Goldman's global head of fixed income currencies and commodities, said she's being replaced by Fernando Rivera and Ryad Yousuf, who will become global co-heads of FICC sales strats and structuring. Rivera is currently head of the FICC Americas structuring and solutions froup. Yousuf is currently co-head of EMEA FICC emerging markets sales and head of the EMEA emerging markets distribution franchise for equities
In her valedictory message she said she's filled with "gratitude and pride," and that "integrity and authenticity are non-negotiable."
Chryssikou is one of several female partners to exit Goldman Sachs this year. In 2015 she told the FT that she was a breathe of fresh air. “I bring emotional intelligence to my job,” she declared. “I’m not a British or American male. As a Greek woman, I bring diversity — sensitivity to different ways of operating. Different leadership styles are healthy — I listen more rather than talk more. That’s not only about internal management. Increasingly I’m dealing a lot with female clients in asset managers and hedge funds. In that context, it can be an advantage to be a woman.”
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