Goldman to boost Middle East headcount, eyes wealth fund deals

Goldman Sachs Group is looking to open more offices and boost headcount in the Middle East, joining Wall Street peers expanding in the region to tap its deep pools of capital.

The New York-based firm continues to work with regional sovereign wealth funds on investment partnerships and expects to pursue further opportunities, said Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management. “The Middle East provides attractive risk/return opportunities,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

Nachmann also pointed to a strong pipeline of initial public offerings in the region, which could create “more opportunities for international investors to make money from the region.”

Wall Street banks have been rapidly expanding across the Middle East, where many countries are undergoing multibillion-dollar investment programs aimed at remaking their economies and becoming less dependent on oil. In recent months, Goldman hosted a “cap intro” event in Abu Dhabi aimed at connecting hedge funds with local investors ready to deploy capital. Goldman Sachs Asset Management secured Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as an anchor investor in a new series of funds focused on the region.

JPMorganChase said earlier Tuesday that it plans to add more than 100 staffers to its Middle East businesses in the coming years, increasing its regional headcount to about 500.

Goldman has had some difficulties in the region. In 2020, the company paid more than $2.9 billion in fines and admitted to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a scheme to pay over $1 billion in bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials to obtain business, including underwriting about $6.5 billion in three bond deals for 1Malaysia Development Bhd., also known as 1MDB.

Goldman is seeking to expand its asset and wealth management business, including by opening private equity funds to individual investors outside the bank. In doing so, it aims to create a steadier stream of fee-based income, tapping growing demand for private-market investments and alleviating investor concerns over its less predictable businesses.

Goldman shareholders have been less enthusiastic about rewarding the firm’s leadership. While the stock is up about 6% this year, shareholder support for Goldman’s say-on-pay resolution in April fell by about 20 percentage points from a year earlier amid opposition to the large, one-time payouts to two top executives.

The nonbinding measure drew opposition from ISS and Glass Lewis. At issue were restricted stock-unit payments of $80 million each to CEO David Solomon and President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron, part of an effort to retain the two executives.

ISS had called the Goldman awards “problematic,” while Glass Lewis described them as “excessive.” A Goldman spokesperson declined to comment on the vote results.

—Mary de Wet and Kevin Wack contributed to this article.