Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) Appoints New Investment Banking Heads

Troy Kuhn

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has named new co-heads for its investment banking operations in Asia. The existing head of the investment bank, Mattew Westerman, is said to be relocated to another senior role in London. The announcement was made in an internal memo sent to employees. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

Kate Richdale and Andrea Vella will be the new co-heads of the Asian region that excludes Japan, while the investment banking operations in New Zealand and Australia will be led by Christian Johnston.

Mr. Westerman has been the only head of Goldman Sachs’ investment banking unit in the region since 2013. He was also the head of global equity markets previously. He will now become the chairman for the same division in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Mr. Vella has been working in Goldman Sachs since 2007. He joined as a partner and moved to Asia three years later. He became the co-head of the financing group in 2014, after having served as the head of credit capital markets.

Ms. Richdale has previously been the head of the investment banking unit in Asia since March 2013. Before joining as a partner at Goldman Sachs, she served at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) for 13 years.

According to Reuters, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) has booked over half of this year’s block deals in the region. This confirms around $112 million fees from different firms.

Goldman Sachs recently had its annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco headquarters. The firm called for its shareholders to discuss its proposals and plans and reiterated its stance of being a tech savvy bank. Goldman Sachs has been operating as a top investment bank, managing initial public offerings (IPO) for tech companies for a very long time. The bank has led investments for several startups and tech companies.

Just recently, the firm hired a high-profile executive to co-lead its bitcoin startup. Goldman Sachs has also hired a senior executive to lead its online operations. The firm has embraced the online lending business conducted by startups like LendingClub. The new executive will help Goldman Sachs in the transition to use technology in online lending.

In separate news, Samer A. Katerji and Rody Yared, former bankers from Citigroup Inc. and JP Morgan Chase & Co. have started an advisory company in Dubai, reported Bloomberg. The new boutique advisory firm will advise its clients on financial transactions and capital markets in the Middle East. Mr. Katerji previously worked in the investment banking division of Middle East Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C). Mr. Yared was a director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). The new firm is called Trussbridge Advisory DIFC Ltd.

“The big banks are focused on large size transactions….the space is crowded with international banks when it comes to deals above half-a-billion dollars. The mid-size market, with ticket in the range of $100 million to $250 million, is not actively covered by these banks,” Bloomberg quotes Mr. Yared.

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