As Goldman Sachs battles a vortex of internal and external speculation about career pathways for women, the venerated Wall Street bank has been forced into damage-control mode.
In a 12-point internal memo obtained by Business Insider, Goldman Sachs’ chief of staff, Russell Horwitz, admitted that the firm hasn’t gone far enough to advance the careers of its female employees. Horwitz also encouraged senior staffers to lean on a special “briefing toolkit” to reassure concerned clients about the bank’s commitment to elevate women into senior roles and retain top female talent.
Horwitz’s March 13 memo was sent to all partners, managing directors, and vice presidents in response to a recent Wall Street Journal story. The Journal story, published earlier that day, detailed concerns about why the bank has so few female leaders in its upper ranks, and why so many female employees have departed on CEO David Solomon’s watch.
Horwitz’s briefing document, designed to help managers navigate “conversations with colleagues and clients,” said the bank concurred with the “premise” of the article, “even if we may disagree with some of the story’s characterizations.”
“Despite gains, progress has been slow and we realize we need to do more to accelerate positive change,” wrote Horwitz, who returned to Goldman in September as partner and chief of staff overseeing the executive office. “We will continue to focus on our talent development, retention and advancement initiatives, working closely with our global, regional, and business inclusion and diversity committees to drive meaningful progress,” he added.
Horwitz also included a series of statistics underscoring the firm’s progress in expanding the number of women on staff. He pointed to the bank’s most recent class of managing director promotions last year, which — at 31% — marked “the highest percentage of women to date,” he said.
A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs declined to comment. Horwitz — who oversees corporate communications, and government and regulatory affairs at the firm — referred a request for comment to Goldman’s media team.
Wall Street has always been male dominated, but the Journal story suggested that Goldman has institutional problems. The Journal reported that some female partners said their work and leadership had suffered aspersions cast by top executives including Marc Nachmann, who since 2022 has run the global asset and wealth management division.
Women exits at Goldman
The story comes amid a recent spate of departures of high-profile female executives at Goldman. Stephanie Cohen, the ex-global head of the firm’s platform solutions division, explained why she left the bank after more than two decades in an exclusive interview this week with BI’s Bianca Chan.
Beth Hammack, once considered a top contender to break into the bank’s C-Suite, has also left.
Altogether, Goldman has lost three female members of Goldman’s influential management committee in recent weeks: Cohen, Hammack, and Alison Mass. Mass, a longtime powerhouse Goldman banker, will continue in her role as chairman of investment banking despite relinquishing her post on the committee.
After Cohen and Hammack officially leave, the management committee — which guides the firm’s policy and ambitions — will be left with 23 seats, six of which will be held by women (roughly 26%).
In a statement to the Journal, Solomon conceded that “advancing women into our most senior ranks is an area where we have not accomplished our goals,” but emphasized that the bank was “fortunate to have extraordinary female partners that continue to grow in numbers.”
Since Solomon took the CEO reins in 2019, more than 200 partners have left the firm, and some partners have criticized his management style and decision-making.
Other women partners who have left include Katie Koch, a former top executive in asset management; Heather Miner, ex-global head of investor relations; and Jennifer Davis, a former head of retail investment banking.
Read the “toolkit” with 12 talking points Horowitz shared with Goldman partners, managing directors, and vice presidents:
Executive Office
Briefing Toolkit
March 13, 2023
Briefing Toolkit: Wall Street Journal Article on Women’s Representation in Senior Roles at the Firm
Today, The Wall Street Journal published a story on women’s representation in senior roles at the firm. The Wall Street Journal’s article argues that we have more work to do, and we agree with its premise, even if we may disagree with some of the story’s characterizations. While we have made progress in some areas, we certainly acknowledge that we have fallen short in others.
The following briefing toolkit has been prepared to assist you in your conversations with colleagues and clients.
Russell W. Horwitz
Background and Talking Points
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Increasing the diversity of our people is a business priority. As part of our diversity and inclusion priorities, the firm set forth aspirational goals in 2019 to outline where we think we can and should make progress to increase the representation of diverse professionals at all levels
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We are encouraged by the progress we have made:
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Our 2023 campus analyst class was 51% women
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42% of our professional experienced hires — analyst to partner — in 2023 were women, the highest percentage in the past 10 years; in 2023, 40% of managing director hires and 32% of vice president hires were women
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Women represented 40% of the Vice President and Executive Director Classes of 2023 and 2022, up 4% vs. the 2018 Class; 34% of our vice presidents are women, up 2% vs. 2018
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Our Managing Director Class of 2023 had the highest percentage of women to date — 31% women. The percentage of women managing directors is 26%, up 4% vs. 2018
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Our Partner Class of 2022 was our most diverse class to date, with 29% women (vs. 23% for the Class of 2016). The percentage of partners who are women is the highest in the firm’s history at 19%, up from 15% in 2018
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Through a number of global talent programs, we are also focused on enhancing the development, retention and engagement of women at all levels across the firm
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Career development and advancement programs include the Women’s Career Strategies Initiative, as well as the Vice President Sponsorship Initiative and Vice President Leadership Initiative, among others
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We also emphasize the responsibility of leadership and management to sustain an inclusive environment for their teams, including through dedicated manager training on inclusive behaviors, actions and best practices
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As part of our continued focus on supporting our people and their families, working parents at the firm can access a range of leaves and support, including family leave adoption and surrogacy stipends, parenting mentoring and coaching programs, and in-home care services. Among other enhancements in recent years, all new parents receive the same paid parenting leave time that applies to their office location, regardless of gender or caregiver status — with a global minimum of 20 weeks parenting leave
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Despite gains, progress has been slow and we realize we need to do more to accelerate positive change. As we look forward, in addition to our ongoing focus on hiring candidates who represent a wide range of backgrounds, we will continue to focus on our talent development, retention and advancement initiatives, working closely with our global, regional, and business inclusion and diversity committees to drive meaningful progress
Media Inquiries
For reference, the story included the following statement from David: “We are encouraged where we’ve made progress and very focused on where we have not. Advancing women into our most senior ranks is an area where we have not accomplished our goals. We are very fortunate to have extraordinary female partners that continue to increase in numbers. Our longer term success depends significantly on developing female partners in senior roles.”
Please direct any media inquiries to Media Relations.
For internal use only
Read the full article here
