Goldman’s next generation takes shape with raft of promotions

Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is building the next generation of dealmakers and investment bankers in a series of promotions, naming new leaders for mergers and acquisitions and other key businesses.
In one of the highest-profile steps, the firm picked Stephan Feldgoise and Mark Sorrell to co-lead the global M&A practice. In equity-capital markets, David Ludwig will become global head and Gabe Gelman and Simon Watson will co-lead business in the Americas.
M&A volume dropped almost 40% this year, even after it crept higher since July, with many corporate executives retreating to sidelines to wait out economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. But the ECM promotions come amid a booming year for initial public offerings and equity issuance as companies shore up liquidity. Globally, such deals have already surpassed the total in both 2019 and 2018.
Feldgoise and Sorrell are succeeding Michael Carr, Dusty Philip and Gilberto Pozzi, who will become co-chairs of the bank’s global M&A unit. Since Carr and Pozzi ran M&A starting in 2015, Goldman Sachs lost out on being the No. 1 adviser just once, to Morgan Stanley in 2016, the data show.
The firm is shuffling the top ranks as it prepares to announce the next class of partners later this year. Included in the promotions was Kim Posnett, 43, who was named co-head of the investment-banking services unit. Posnett is the first woman to lead
the operation and the youngest person to ever hold the role.
Goldman Sachs also promoted a trio of women in its global financing group. Christina Minnis was named co-head of global credit finance alongside Michael Marsh, who was also recently promoted. It named Akila Raman chief operating officer of the global financing group, and Miriam Wheeler head of Americas real estate
financing.
They join a growing list of female bankers being elevated as Chief Executive Officer David Solomon seeks to increase diversity in the top ranks, with a goal to make women 40% of the firm’s vice presidents by 2025.
The bank also appointed Gonzalo Garcia and Anthony Gutman co-heads of investment banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and picked Aasem Khalil to head investment banking for Latin America.