Goldman Sachs Executive Julian Salisbury Departs For Sixth Street Partners

(RTTNews) - In a significant blow to Goldman Sachs' (GS) asset and wealth management division, executive Julian Salisbury is leaving the bank to join Sixth Street Partners. His departure adds to the list of senior executives leaving Goldman's asset management business, including Katie Koch and Luke Sarsfield, who departed within the past year. Takashi Murata, co-head of Asia Pacific private investing, is also confirmed to be leaving the bank.

Julian Salisbury, who has been with Goldman for 25 years, was previously co-head of the asset management division before assuming the role of chief investment officer during a major reorganization led by CEO David Solomon. The asset management business has undergone significant changes in the past year, leading to a series of departures.

Goldman Sachs does not intend to fill Salisbury's role, which was created as part of the reorganization. Marc Nachmann, head of asset and wealth management at Goldman, expressed confidence in the current set-up and noted that employee attrition in the business has been lower in 2023 compared to previous years.

Salisbury stated that leaving Goldman was a difficult decision, but he views his upcoming role as co-chief investment officer at Sixth Street as a unique opportunity to reunite with respected colleagues. Salisbury has a close friendship with Sixth Street's CEO, Alan Waxman, as they previously collaborated on successful deals, including the takeover of Swiss communications company Cablecom while at Goldman in the early 2000s.

Sixth Street Partners has become a prominent private capital firm, actively involved in lending to corporate buyouts and investing in media rights for top football clubs like FC Barcelona and the Real Madrid stadium.

Salisbury is expected to play a leading role in overseeing Sixth Street's operations outside of the US. The investment group is based in San Francisco and manages $65 billion in assets.

Goldman's asset and wealth management businesses were merged in October as part of CEO David Solomon's efforts to diversify the firm's business away from investment banking and trading. The division, which oversees $2.7 trillion in assets across equities, private equity, credit, and fixed income, generates smaller revenues compared to the core investment banking and trading business.

Goldman has been gradually reducing its reliance on profits from investments made with its own capital in the asset management division, citing volatility and regulatory treatment as factors. Instead, the bank aims to increase revenue from the outside funds it manages, with a target of managing $225 billion in gross third-party funds by 2024.