Goldman Sachs Group Inc. promoted 425 people, including a record proportion of women, to managing director, the Wall Street firm’s second-highest rank.
The class’s total size surged from 280 in 2013, when the bank decided to change from an annual process to a biennial promotion. Women accounted for 25 percent of the executives named this year, up from 20 percent in the previous round, according to a person briefed on the matter. Goldman Sachs names so-called partners in even-numbered years, and in 2014 granted 78 people that title, its highest rank and a nod to the firm’s history as a private partnership.
The promotions disclosed Thursday on the New York-based company’s website take effect Jan. 1. The designation usually leads to a higher base salary, as much as $400,000, the person said. Managing directors also get bonuses that can boost total compensation into the millions of dollars. While women made up a larger share of the class, the ratio still lags behind the 37 percent of total U.S. employees at the firm who are women.
Investment bankers comprise 23 percent of the class, up from 18 percent two years ago, while the trading division accounts for 24 percent, down from 33 percent in 2013, according to a person with knowledge of the figures. Nine percent of those promoted work in the firm’s technology division, up from 7 percent two years ago, and 17 percent had an engineering role, which includes tech, the person said.
Goldman Sachs has touted its ability to retain long-tenured workers even as per-employee compensation has slumped more than 40 percent from pre-crisis levels. Managing directors typically number more than 2,000 at the firm, which had 36,900 employees at the end of September, up 10 percent from a year earlier.
Fifty-four percent of those promoted work in the Americas; 26 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; 16 percent in the Asia-Pacific region; and 4 percent in India, the person said.