Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley among the banks bleeding MDs after bonuses

Bonus season is over, with mixed feelings for the banks (and bankers) involved. One thing, however, is universal – once bonuses are paid, people start leaving, for better or worse. At least three partners have left Goldman Sachs in the past few weeks, as well as two managing directors (MDs) from Morgan Stanley. 

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Edward Sanderson left Goldman Sachs for quant fund Qube Research & Technologies, as head of the electronic derivatives team for Asia, based in Hong Kong. Sanderson spent six years at Goldman, after joining from Credit Suisse in 2017. 

In Germany, Holger Schmidt left Morgan Stanley after 12 years across London and Frankfurt. He joined Perella Weinberg Partners as an MD last week, based in Munich. He was an MD, class of 2021, in Morgan Stanley’s financial institutions group for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa before leaving.

Sanderson & Schmidt were far from the only major departures from major banks in recent weeks. Financial News reported that Goldman’s Ben Thorpe, a partner, and Mark Maislish, an MD, departed the bank for Guggenheim Partners and Citadel, respectively. Bloomberg also reported the departure of Scott Lebovitz, Goldman partner and the bank’s former co-head of infrastructure. Lebovitz had been at the bank for 26 years.

Michael Bluhm, Morgan Stanley global head of gaming and lodging investment banking for Jefferies to head its real estate, gaming, and lodging team, per Bloomberg.

What’s up with all the departures? More than likely the end of bonus season. Goldman’s bonuses, which were announced a few weeks ago, didn’t look too good at the firm – flat being one of the better outcomes one could expect. That might be especially hard to take given that, in our bonus expectations report, Goldman’s people were some of the most optimistic, expecting a nearly 30% increase on last year. Clearly, that hasn’t happened.

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