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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A treadeoff between Bonuses and people views

Goldman is no different from most Wall Street firms: it rewards bankers and traders who make lots of money.

“They do it because they can,” Michael Useem, professor of management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said of the bonuses. “But strategic thinking requires that you think not only about trading but also about reputation and where the bank stands in the court of public opinion.”

This much is indisputable: Goldman Sachs is minting money. Its third-quarter profits were powered in large part by aggressive trading in the fixed income and equity markets.

Its earnings were also bolstered by mark-ups in its own private equity stakes and other corporate investments, which have risen as markets have rallied this year. Its earnings from investment banking were down from the second quarter, it said, because of the seasonally weak summer months and because the second quarter had been enhanced by underwriting business as other banks had rushed to raise capital.

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