ìThe typical head of natural resources investment banking at Goldman, who will be a partner, will be earning twice as much as his [or her] comparator at Credit Suisse,î says one headhunter. ìManaging directors at other banks canít compare their pay to that of Goldman partners ñ itís a totally different dynamic.î
The fact that partners at Goldman Sachs make mega-money is nothing new ñ but last month it emerged that ëthe firmí had increased their base pay for London managing directors to 300k (AU$744), twice what most managing directors in the City achieve.
And last week Financial News reported that Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelreid, lieutenants to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein, received bigger payouts than the chief executives of Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers.
ìGoldmanís numbers in corporate finance have been five to 10% higher than those at other banks this year,î says another headhunter, who asked not to be named. ìLast year Morgan Stanley paid 10% to 15% more, and it was always expected Goldman would make up for that.î
On the whole, headhunters say the number of bankers earning more than US$10m was higher at Goldman than at any other bank this year. ìIt wasnít always like this,î says the headhunter. ìGoldmanís pay used to be discounted due to the strength of their franchise, but in the past three years theyíve been paying at the top of the market.î
Is Goldman the only place to work?
Could it be Goldman Sachs is the only place to go if you want to make really big money?
