Exchanges At Goldman Sachs

Denis Coleman, co-head of Goldman Sachs' Global Financing Group in the Investment Banking Division, joins host Jake Siewert to talk about the business and financing environment in Europe.

Sarah Kiernan of Goldman Sachs' Global Markets Division gives her quick take on the five numbers she's watching in markets.

In this episode, we dig into what may be the most important issue of our time: climate change. On the heels of a climate-focused World Economic Forum in Davos, the unveiling of Europe’s new Green Deal, and increased attention on climate change by the world’s largest asset managers and banks, climate change is undoubtedly Top of Mind. We speak with Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago, Nathaniel Keohane of the Environmental Defense Fund and Goldman Sachs’ Steve Strongin about the climate challenge, and what it will take to address it. We also discuss how capital markets and climate policy are driving transformational shifts in the energy industry, and what it means for sector returns. Finally, the head of the Goldman Sachs Sustainable Finance Group, John Goldstein, provides insight and advice on ESG investing and integration, and the growing implications of shareholders and clients increasingly demanding more accountability on climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Goldman Sachs opened its doors for its first-ever Investor Day in its 150-year history. In this episode, Goldman Sachs CFO Stephen Scherr recaps the day and explains how leadership is trying to increase transparency with clients by releasing three-year financial targets, restructuring its business segments, and more. Scherr, who has been at Goldman Sachs for nearly 27 years and CFO since 2018, also talks about his transition into the role. To kick off the episode, Jen Roth of Global Markets gives her quick take on the five numbers she’s watching in markets. 

Scott Rubner of Goldman Sachs Global Markets talks through the five numbers he’s watching in markets, from $671 billion of money market inflows to the 32% “January effect.” Then, Catie O’Brien, also of Global Markets, provides a deep dive into the airline industry, including how the Boeing 737 Max is impacting supply and profitability, and how airlines have been reinvesting back into the product, resulting in more options than just coach or business class.  

To start the episode, Goldman Sachs' Oscar Ostlund talks through the five numbers he’s watching in markets, from China’s debt-to-GDP ratio to the Euro-USD exchange rate. Then, Michele Della Vigna of Goldman Sachs Research explains his latest “carbonomics” research and how climate change is reshaping the energy industry through technological innovation and capital markets pressure.  

David Kostin, chief US equity strategist for Goldman Sachs Research, discusses his team's forecasts for US stocks in the year ahead. But before that, Tony Pasquariello, global head of hedge fund coverage for Goldman Sachs Securities Division, walks through the five numbers he's watching in markets.

In this episode, John Goldstein, head of Goldman Sachs’ Sustainable Finance Group, talks about the firm’s recent sustainability announcement to invest or finance $750 billion of capital over the next 10 years across two themes–climate transition and inclusive growth. Goldstein highlights the commercial motivation behind the firm’s sustainability strategy. “This is grounded in a core view of where the world is going, a thesis, a research-driven view...almost a market call that fundamentally these questions of climate transition and inclusive growth are going to be central, secular themes for the economy for our clients and for ourselves,” he says. 

In this episode, Jake Siewert sits down with Jari Stehn of Goldman Sachs Research to discuss his team’s outlook for Europe’s economy in 2020. “We think 2020 is going to be a better year for Europe than 2019,” Stehn says. “We expect growth to be 1.1% next year, which is a bit above consensus, and is certainly notably above where the current numbers are running.” Stehn goes on to explain the drivers behind this growth pick-up as well as key risks that could derail estimates.  

With monetary policy, conducted by central banks, nearly exhausted in the major economies and low interest rates globally, whether fiscal policy, conducted by governments, should play a greater role from here is Top of Mind. In this episode, Goldman Sachs Research’s Allison Nathan interviews former IMF Chief Economist, Olivier Blanchard, Harvard professor, Alberto Alesina, and Goldman Sachs’ Chief Economist, Jan Hatzius. They discuss whether increased fiscal stimulus today would do more good than harm, and, even if it would, whether the economies that need it the most will pursue it. Our key takeaways: Germany should embrace a large fiscal expansion, but likely won’t; investors should expect some more fiscal stimulus in China, but only enough to avoid a sharp slowdown. Audio of former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is courtesy of the European Central Bank YouTube channel via the Creative Commons Attribution license ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjIaLD4I8go⁠). Learn more about your ad choic

Healthcare CEOs in the US are “trying to set course in an otherwise unpredictable, highly uncertain world,” according to this episode’s guest, Marshall Smith, global head of Goldman Sachs’ healthcare investment banking. The uncertainty, stemming from global growth concerns, trade policy risk and drug pricing debates, is a consistent theme across the healthcare industry, but that doesn’t mean corporations are sitting back and waiting. Growth strategies are top priorities for executives, Smith explains, with pharmaceutical companies turning to M&A–both to acquire smaller biotech companies for their drug portfolios and to merge with other large pharma companies. Smith also discusses how being the son of a doctor spurred an early interest in healthcare. “My dad would come home from the hospital [and] we’d have dinner together, all seven of us sitting around the table,” Smith recalled. “And so, invariably, we ended up talking about medical cases at dinner pretty much every night.”

The latest episode of Exchanges at Goldman Sachs was recorded at the firm’s recent 2019 Builders + Innovators Summit, which convened nearly one hundred entrepreneurs from various industries to share their stories and learn from one another. Host Jake Siewert was joined by Investment Banking Division co-head Gregg Lemkau, as well as Brynn Putnam, founder of fitness startup Mirror, and Ryan Petersen of the logistics company Flexport. The group discussed today’s environment for entrepreneurship as well as the highs and lows of startup life. “The future of entrepreneurship is exciting,” Lemkau said. “And just being around people like [Putnam and Petersen], who started their own businesses, and the passion you feel for what they’re trying to build. I think the ability to start a business and scale it, given where technology is now, is phenomenal and only growing.” 

The market has once again been gripped by recession fears at the same time that geopolitical and policy risk is flaring up. Some of these risks—like the US-China trade war—are feeding recessionary fears, while others—like the attack on Saudi oil facilities that led to the largest ever daily disruption in oil supplies—have gone almost unnoticed. And this is despite the fact that oil shocks were one of the most common causes of recession historically. Whether this complacency is warranted, and the vulnerability of the economy and markets to this and other geopolitical shocks, is Top of Mind. In this episode, Goldman Sachs’ Head of Energy Research Damien Courvalin explains why the oil market is much better positioned to deal with supply outages today, and thus is a less likely recession trigger than in the past. But the Council on Foreign Relations’ President, Richard Haass, and Columbia Professor Richard Nephew explain why instability looks set to rise in the Middle East and beyond.  Learn more about your ad ch

What’s all the buzz around direct listings? How are companies weighing IPOs vs. alternatives to raising capital in the public markets? Those questions were the focus of a recent panel at the Goldman Sachs Private Innovative Company Conference. Goldman Sachs’ Will Connolly, Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy, and Latham & Watkins partner Greg Rodgers sat down with Exchanges at Goldman Sachs host Jake Siewert to talk about Spotify’s own history with direct listings and what the future may hold for other companies planning to go public. “Companies’ needs and objectives are changing,” Connolly said, pointing to how technology has resulted in companies scaling much faster than in the past. “And when those needs and objectives change, it makes sense that people would seek out new ways to enter the public markets.” Adding context to the discussion, which was taped live in Las Vegas, Goldman Sachs’ David Ludwig joins Jake in the studio to talk more about the evolving needs of clients and how the firm is partnering to meet th

In this episode, David Solomon reflects on his first year as Goldman Sachs CEO: “I've been very focused on making sure that our client focus is at the center of everything we do, and that we really work with our clients as one firm,” he says. “We're a divisional firm, we've always been a divisional firm, but I think there's a great opportunity to make sure for our clients that we're delivering the whole firm.” Looking toward year two, Solomon says his priorities are about execution – from centralizing the firm's investing platforms to scaling new business initiatives, such as the Apple-Goldman Sachs credit card. “The big thing that we as a leadership team -- and I'm very personally focused on -- is the rollout of our broader strategy,” Solomon says.

Adapting to a warmer world could drive one of the largest infrastructure build-outs in history, according to a new report from Goldman Sachs’ Global Markets Institute, titled Taking the heat: making cities resilient to climate change. The report acknowledges the importance of reducing carbon emissions but focuses on the need to adapt to ongoing changes in the climate. Cities, which are home to the majority of the world’s population and generate most of its GDP, will need to develop climate resilience across all types of infrastructure, including coastal protection, transportation, energy and communications. They will need to take an “all-of-the-above” approach to financing, according to Sandra Lawson, executive director of the Global Markets Institute, because “even the most prosperous cities are not going to be able to fund this alone.” Amanda Hindlian, chief operating officer of Global Investment Research and president of the Global Markets Institute, recommends that cities “start now” and allow for maximum

What’s it like to be a Goldman Sachs intern? In this episode, two interns from this past summer talk about their experiences at GS, as well as what they value in an employer—from diversity to work-life balance. Also in the studio was head of Human Capital Management Dane Holmes to discuss how the interns’ perspectives—and the results of a larger, firm-wide intern survey—translate into how employers are thinking about connecting with a younger generation of workers.

President Trump has voiced concern that a strong Dollar is damaging US competitiveness. Of course, exchange rates do matter for trade, and the US' non-oil trade balance has deteriorated sharply since the Dollar began to climb in 2014. So it’s no surprise that Trump’s laser focus on the US trade deficit would end up targeting Dollar strength—and that currency would become another front in the US-China trade war. Whether the US should, could, and would begin to proactively manage the Dollar, and whether these actions—or further trade war escalation—could lead to a global “currency war” is Top of Mind.   In this episode, Goldman Sachs Research’s Allison Nathan gets perspectives from the Peterson Institute’s Joseph Gagnon and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Brad Setser; both believe that Dollar strength and the associated US trade deficit are cause for concern, but see low odds of US foreign exchange intervention that triggers a currency war (Goldman Sachs analysts agree). But given that China has been managin

John Waldron is a busy man. He’s almost a year into his role as Goldman Sachs COO and President, and he’s also a father of six. In this episode, Waldron demystifies his day-to-day and explains why he’s even more focused on executing on the title “COO” than “president.” “My role right now really is to first learn the firm and understand the inner workings of the firm, and so that’s a really operationally intensive job, thus the chief operating officer component,” says Waldron. “The president job comes into play more on an external basis where you’re out with clients, with governments, with regulators and other external constituencies where that title has real resonance.” Waldron also discusses how younger employees can identify and invest in mentors, as well as the importance of recharging out of the office. For Waldron, that means getting home for dinner with his family if he has to head out to a client event later in the evening. “I’ll have a little bit of peanut butter and jelly and then I’ll have a steak t

Technology is changing the structure of the financial industry, says Marty Chavez, global co-head of the Goldman Sachs Securities Division. In this episode, he discusses how the industry is reshaping. “If you look inside a financial services firm, you’ll find there has traditionally been a relatively small number of roles that we talk about—so there’d be bankers, salespeople and traders,” Chavez says. “Now, all of those simple, easy categories are going away and they’re going away fast, and it’s becoming much more complicated and much more multidimensional.” This breaking down of clear categories also changes how financial firms compete with each other. “The traditional notions of ‘You’re my competitor’ are giving away to something that looks much more like coopetition—maybe not my favorite word, but you compete in some areas and you cooperate in some other areas; and some other areas you might be a client, or they might be a client,” Chavez says.