Goldman Sachs Appoints 261 Managing Directors (GS)

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) named 261 new managing directors, the smallest group of managing directors since 2008, according to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. Managing director is the second-highest executive rank at Goldman Sachs.

Last year, the New York City-based bank had appointed 321 new managing directors. In 2008, the bank had appointed 259 new managing directors.

The lower than usual appointments do not come as a surprise. Goldman has been slashing its workforce like many other banks as it continues to struggle due to the uncertain economic environment and volatility in global financial markets. Goldman, which is the fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets, had reported weak third-quarter financial results last month due to declining trading revenues.

Trading revenues were hurt in the third quarter due to the volatility in the global financial markets in August and September. Earlier in the week, Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, said that the bank is working to remain positioned for a rebound even as it slashes around 1,000 jobs to contend with a decline in trading revenue. Speaking at an investor conference in New York on November 15, Blankfein said that the single most important thing the bank can do to enhance value of its business is to continue to hire the best and the brightest people from around the world and once they get in, the bank wants to do everything it can to ensure that they have productive and stimulating careers.

Goldman Sachs appoints new managing directors every year and promotes employees to partner every two years.

On Friday, Goldman shares ended 0.48% lower at $91.91. The stock fell more than 9.50% this week as Financials suffered due to worries about the sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.