Goldman Sachs to promote highest number of executives to managing director since 2021

The promotions include 31 per cent Asian, 3 per cent Black and 4 per cent Hispanic or Latino staff

Wall Street lender Goldman Sachs will promote 638 executives to managing director next year, the highest since 2021, a company memo said, as the bank benefits from a pickup in investment banking across the industry.

Goldman Sachs has been leading Wall Street’s rankings for mergers and acquisitions as its fee volumes surged close to levels seen in 2021.

The Wall Street firm announces managing director promotions every two years, and the number of bankers being promoted this time around exceeds the 608 senior bankers it promoted two years ago. The number of promotions includes 27 per cent women, which is lower than 31 per cent in 2023.

Main divisions headed by men

Goldman Sachs’ main divisions have been headed by men since 2024, when Stephanie Cohen, its then-global head of platform solutions division, left the firm.

“It’s been really great in my seat in terms of the work that we do looking after the positioning performance and also the investment postures for our hedge fund clients based on our data,” Vincent Lin, co-head of prime insights & analytics at Goldman, told Reuters.

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Lin was among the executives who were elevated to managing director in the latest round of promotions.

“It’s been great to use this opportunity, and the work that we do to connect with clients to guide them through turbulent times and also through calmer times - and it’s great to see our work being recognised as part of the promotion process,” added Lin.

The promotions include 31 per cent Asian, 3 per cent Black and 4 per cent Hispanic or Latino, the memo from CEO David Solomon and President John Waldron said.

More than 70 per cent of the promotions come from revenue-generating businesses, but unlike previous years, the firm did not break down how many came from global banking and markets or global asset and wealth units.

Goldman Sachs beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit, as its investment bankers earned higher advisory fees and rallying markets boosted revenue from managing client assets.

The bank has, however, lost more than a dozen senior investment bankers this year, a higher number than normal, after internal shake-ups and a sluggish start to 2025 drove them to seek new opportunities, Reuters reported earlier, citing sources familiar with the situation. REUTERS