Dive Brief:

• Goldman Sachs named 95 new partners Thursday, the largest class bestowed with the title since 2010.
• The bank touted its “largest number of diverse new partners” – 26 women, 17 Asians, six with a Hispanic or Latinx background, four Black people and three veterans, according to a release. By percentage, however, the bank falls short in some areas. The 26 women comprise 27% of the new partner class, but women represented 29% of new partners in 2022, the last year Goldman elevated employees to the rank.
• Goldman also highlighted its global banking and markets franchise, saying the class represents growth there. Fifty-five of the bank’s 95 new partners work in that division, according to the bank’s release. Asset and wealth management, meanwhile, can claim 26 new partners.

Dive Insight:

“Goldman partner” is a vestige from the bank’s pre-1999 private days. But the title still carries considerable cachet on Wall Street – often as a springboard to higher echelons. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have both held the moniker – reserved for roughly 400 of the bank’s 46,000 employees.

While some banks give annual promotions, Goldman appoints new partners only in even-numbered years – naming managing directors, one level below, in odd-. That may help retain the coveted nature of the partner title.

Indeed, in their release, Goldman CEO David Solomon and President John Waldron touched on the potential disappointment of passed-over candidates.

“These decisions are extremely difficult, and we acknowledge the hard work of those who were not selected this year,” the executives wrote.

Solomon, for one, has typically overseen the promotion of smaller numbers to partner since becoming CEO: 69 in 2018, 60 in 2020 and 80 in 2022. Some of that is purposeful – to reinforce what Solomon has called the “aspirational nature” of the title.

Thursday’s promotions are effective Jan. 1. Partners can expect salaries that hover around $1 million, with millions more dollars available in bonuses, including from a separate bonus pool. Goldman gave one-time awards to its partners in 2021 after the bank posted record-smashing revenue. Partners also gain access to profits from Goldman’s private investment funds and an exclusive annual gathering.

The bank has seen several high-profile departures in recent years, though, and may be bolstering its partner ranks as a counterbalance. Roughly two-thirds of women who were Goldman partners at the end of 2018 had left the bank as of March or no longer had the title, The Wall Street Journal reported. That compares with just less than half of men who were partners at the same time.

This year’s highest-profile departures have included the only two women who, at the time, were leading revenue-generating units at the bank. Beth Hammack, once a candidate for CFO at the bank, left to become president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Stephanie Cohen, once chief of the bank’s Platform Solutions unit, became chief strategy officer at IT firm Cloudflare. Goldman’s treasurer, Philip Berlinski, also left – and the bank subsequently elevated its global head of investor relations, Carey Halio, a woman, to take his place.

Goldman’s emphasis on diversity, from its release Thursday, may work in number but perhaps not by percentage. Thursday’s newly minted partner class in 27% women – shy of the 29% from the 2022 contingent. About 4% of new partners are Black – down from 9% in 2022 and 7% in 2020. Roughly 6% are Hispanic or Latino – double the proportion from 2022. And 18% are Asian – down from 24% two years ago.

Roughly 69% of new partners are based in the Americas – up from 66% in 2022. About 22% are based in Europe, the Middle East or Africa – down from 26% two years ago; and 8% are based in the Asia-Pacific region, roughly even with 2022 but far below the 14% from 2020.

That, too, may not reflect Goldman’s desire to stress its global nature. However, five partner promotions come from the bank’s Paris office – the first there in eight years, the Financial Times reported. Three new partners are based in Japan, the first time that has happened in six years, according to the publication.

Thursday’s 95 promotions fall short of Goldman’s record: The bank named 115 new partners in 2006 and 110 in 2010.