Call it "Extreme Makeover: Banking Edition," and get a look at the latest contestant.
Goldman Sachs is changing both inside and out. First, the company is building a private bank that will lend to wealthy individuals and companies. The move is designed to generate revenue and fees at a time when its other businesses, like investment banking, are hurting. Goldman plans to grow the business further outside the U.S. in places like Asia.
"That's been a strategic focus of ours for awhile and continues to be," Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said on a call with analysts yesterday to discuss second quarter earnings.
The firm met its cost-cutting targets for this year and has lumped on an additional plan to save $500 million, said Viniar. It cut 100 jobs last quarter and put aside nearly 10% less compensation last quarter than it did a year earlier.
Despite the cuts, Goldman expects to have higher head count by the end of the year. Here's the catch: The level of the employees, on average, will skew more junior, less senior, Viniar said. Campus hiring will boost head count, he added.
So, to recap: Senior bankers have been leaving the bank in droves, and Goldman is gearing up to hire less expensive, more-bang-for-their-buck junior people. It's a whole new 200 West.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. This scandal is far more suited to a Jason Bourne film than a Senate hearing. The top compliance officer at HSBC is resigning because the bank served as a conduit for drug dealers and terrorists. We want the movie rights.
Expanding in China (Bloomberg)
Foreign banks have their eye on the promised land: China. HSBC and Citigroup are two of the 41 banks that want to grow staff by 56% by 2015.
A quarter of Harvard Business School's class of 1986 own a boat. A QUARTER. Get thee to Harvard, stat.
More Women, More Money (The Times of India)
Firms like Deutsche Bank are paying headhunters more money to bring them qualified female candidates.
Musical Chairs (Harvard Business Review)
Top young managers in their late 20s and early 30s aren't staying at their jobs for very long. The top reason: Inadequate training.
What to Say (Business Insider)
Here are 16 Wall Street terms that theoretically may make you sound much more intriguing to the person you just bought a drink.
Buzz Around the Office
A 59-year-old Utah man died last week, leaving behind a rather revealing obituary that included his admitting that he never actually earned his Ph.D., a diploma that launched his engineering career. In fact, he never graduated from college.
List of the Day: Getting Promoted
It will be easier if you keep these things in mind.
1. Don't lump your problems onto your boss's lap. You're there to make his or her life easier.
2. Be honest about mistakes and what you're doing to fix them.
3. Don't walk around with an air of entitlement.
(Source: The Daily Muse)
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