Goldman Sachs 2013 Annual Report Download - page 2

The Goldman Sachs Business Principles
Our clients’ interests
always come first.
Our experience shows that if we
serve our clients well, our own
success will follow.
Our assets are our people,
capital and reputation.
If any of these is ever diminished, the
last is the most difficult to restore. We
are dedicated to complying fully with
the letter and spirit of the laws, rules
and ethical principles that govern us.
Our continued success depends upon
unswerving adherence to this standard.
Our goal is to provide superior
returns to our shareholders.
Profitability is critical to achieving
superior returns, building our capital,
and attracting and keeping our best
people. Significant employee stock
ownership aligns the interests of our
employees and our shareholders.
We take great pride in the
professional quality of our work.
We have an uncompromising
determination to achieve excellence
in everything we undertake. Though
we may be involved in a wide variety
and heavy volume of activity, we
would, if it came to a choice, rather
be best than biggest.
We stress creativity and
imagination in everything we do.
While recognizing that the old way may
still be the best way, we constantly
strive to find a better solution to a
client’s problems. We pride ourselves
on having pioneered many of the
practices and techniques that have
become standard in the industry.
We make an unusual effort to
identify and recruit the very best
person for every job.
Although our activities are measured in
billions of dollars, we select our people
one by one. In a service business,
we know that without the best people,
we cannot be the best firm.
We offer our people the opportunity
to move ahead more rapidly than is
possible at most other places.
Advancement depends on merit and
we have yet to find the limits to the
responsibility our best people are able
to assume. For us to be successful,
our men and women must reflect the
diversity of the communities and cultures
in which we operate. That means
we must attract, retain and motivate
people from many backgrounds and
perspectives. Being diverse is
not optional; it is what we must be.
We stress teamwork
in everything we do.
While individual creativity is always
encouraged, we have found that team
effort often produces the best results.
We have no room for those who put their
personal interests ahead of the interests
of the firm and its clients.
The dedication of our people to
the firm and the intense effort
they give their jobs are greater
than one finds in most other
organizations.
We think that this is an important
part of our success.
We consider our size an asset
that we try hard to preserve.
We want to be big enough to undertake
the largest project that any of our clients
could contemplate, yet small enough to
maintain the loyalty, the intimacy and the
esprit de corps that we all treasure and
that contribute greatly to our success.
We constantly strive to anticipate
the rapidly changing needs of our
clients and to develop new services
to meet those needs.
We know that the world of finance will
not stand still and that complacency
can lead to extinction.
We regularly receive confidential
information as part of our normal
client relationships.
To breach a confidence or to use
confidential information improperly or
carelessly would be unthinkable.
Our business is highly competitive,
and we aggressively seek to expand
our client relationships.
However, we must always be fair
competitors and must never denigrate
other firms.
Integrity and honesty are
at the heart of our business.
We expect our people to maintain high
ethical standards in everything they do,
both in their work for the firm and in
their personal lives.