Abigail with attitude: How many blows can the Goldman Sachs brand suffer?

Euromoney Limited, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 15236090

4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Euromoney Limited 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Abigail with attitude: How many blows can the Goldman Sachs brand suffer?

Abigail's biography

Changes continue at UBS
                             

How many blows can the
Goldman Sachs brand suffer?
                             

The new Nomura
                              



In the financial world, brand and institutional heritage are powerful. As an aside, I am intrigued to ponder how many blows the Goldman Sachs brand can suffer before it is decisively diminished. This latest episode concerning maverick board member Rajat Gupta is disconcerting. There is a huge difference between sitting in a franchise seat, as most investment bankers do, and creating the franchise. I am always intrigued when I have the chance to meet financiers who have had the guts to found their own firms. It was thus a great pleasure to have lunch with Jonathan Lourie, one of the co-founders of Cheyne Capital, and John Hyman, who recently joined the London-based hedge fund. They are Morgan Stanley alumni. Jonathan, unusually for a banker, is a modern renaissance man. We had so much to talk about that I was sad when lunch was over, which is more than can be said for most business lunches.

I am also sad that the tenure of Barbara Bargagli-Petrucci as director and head of capital markets at the European Investment Bank is over. She has worked at the EIB for some 17 years and will be sorely missed. I have known Barbara for a while and consider her a friend. She was charming to me when I was a banker and she was charming to me when I was a journalist. I can only concur with the words of Bertrand de Mazières, director general of finance at the EIB, who stated: "Barbara brought great distinction to this critical role... She also cultivated an admirable spirit of partnership between the market and EIB." I wish good things for Barbara in the next chapter of her life and welcome her successor, Eila Kreivi, to this important job.

Changes continue at UBS

The new Nomura

How was your month? Please send news and views to Abigail@euromoney.com

Gift this article