Goldman Sachs 2007 Annual Report Download - page 8

While important as a revenue source in its own right,
our PWM business connects us with a growing class
of entrepreneurs around the world, who not only
benefit from our private banking skills, but also rely
upon our investment banking and securities expertise.
We have made key management hires in PWM
and are developing onshore capabilities in China
and Brazil. We are expanding our Swiss banking
capabilities to grow our offshore franchise in important
markets. We also have GS Bank USA, an industrial
loan corporation in the U.S., and a fully operational
bank in Ireland to augment our global private
banking platform.
Our strategy of being an advisor, financier and investor
is proving especially effective as we expand globally.
Although we are relatively new to some of these markets,
we have been able to win important mandates
because of the attraction of our model, the strength
of our reputation and our commitment to the local
region. For example, we opened offices in Dubai and
Mumbai in 2007 and were #2 in announced M&A
in both the Middle East and India.
This is all part of a broader strategy of identifying
high-growth areas around the world and building
our franchise in tandem with these economies.
Our Culture
Our ability to perform rests on a shared passion for
teamwork, integrity and excellence. Teamwork
is not an abstract goal, but a reality. It allows us to
complement an individual’s skills and expertise with
those of his or her colleagues to provide exceptional
client service across different parts of the firm.
Our people are also results-driven and measure their
effectiveness by the successes of our clients.
Culture is a difficult concept to define, but we believe
it is what truly differentiates Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs’ partnership ethos still runs
throughout the firm. This mentality creates a sense of
ownership of the firm’s capital, risk and profitability
at all levels. We have over 30,000 employees, but we
try every day to make the firm feel smaller. Whether
we communicate with people divisionally, regionally
or at the senior leadership level, we reinforce the
same values. Each person at Goldman Sachs is a
steward of our legacy and the culture it represents.
One example of this is The Chairman’s Forum. For
the past year, the three of us conducted over 30 half-
day sessions in the U.S., Europe and Asia with every
Managing Director (MD) to talk about his or her
role in advancing our client franchise. We spent more
time on this initiative than any other. Given the fact
that our MDs set the tone throughout the firm, there
were few more important ways to invest our time.
The firm also imbues a sense of partnership through
our compensation process. We take a comprehensive
view on performance versus one limited to individual
results. While individual performance matters,
everyone’s pay is dependent on how Goldman Sachs
performs overall. People are incentivized to act in a
way that supports the firm as a whole and not to be
parochial about their specific division or business unit.
Ultimately, our success depends on the quality of the
people we attract and retain. We spend enormous
amounts of time on these issues. It begins with
recruiting. At Goldman Sachs, everyone from our
junior to our most senior people commits time
and focus to our recruiting efforts. Our Management
Committee members have participated in nearly 80
recruiting events over the last year. The priority we
place on recruiting is one reason why more than 80
percent of the offers we extended globally to under-
graduates and graduates in 2007 were accepted.
Once they come into the firm, our people expect
ongoing training and development. Within GS
University, there are over 2,400 online and classroom
courses. Ninety percent of our people participated
—
completing 950,000 hours of training during the
year. Our people also expect to have a broad range
of experiences over the course of their careers. Many
of us, including most of our senior leadership, have
worked in multiple divisions and in multiple regions.
6Goldman Sachs 2007 Annual Report